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ANIMAL  BOOh 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


DAN   BEARD'S 
ANIMAL  BOOK 

AND 

CAMP-FIRE  STORIES 

BY 

DAN   BEARD 

Author  of  "The  American  Boys'  Handy  Book,"   "  Field  and 
Forest  Handy  Book,"  Etc. 

ILLUSTRATED  BY  THE  AUTHOR 


NEW  AND  ENLARGED  EDITION 


CHICAGO: 
M.   A.   DONOHUE   &    Co. 


COPYRIGHT,   1907,   1910,  BY 
MOFFAT,  YARD  AND  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 

All  rights  reserved 

Published  November,  1907 


New  and  Enlarged  Edition,  October,  1910 


The  thanks  of  the  author  are  due  to  the  New  York  Herald, 
the  McClure  Syndicate,  and  other  publications  for  their  courtesy 
and  promptness  in  returning  originals  directly  when  a  delay 
might  have  interfered  with  the  publication  of  this  book. 


\C\ID 


To  MY  SON 

DANIEL  BARTLETT  BEARD 

THE  MOST  ENJOYABLE  PET  AND  INTERESTING    SPECIMEN  I    HAVE 
EVER  BEEN  FORTUNATE  ENOUGH  TO  POSSESS. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I     A  WILDERNESS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY  3 

II     ALONE  IN  A  ROOM  FULL  OF  RATS.  . .  13 

III  HAIRY-TAILED  PACK   RATS 33 

IV  JIM  THE  TRAPPER  OF  LAKE  CHELAN.  52 
V     A   TRIBE  OF   GNAWERS   AND   THEIR 

FOOD '66 

VI     THE,  BATS  I  HAVE  HAD 89 

VII     Do  MEN  THINK? 98 

VIII     BIRDS  AND  INSECTS  THAT  WILL  TAKE 

AN  ARTIFICIAL  FLY 112 

IX     A  GREAT  NOSE 129 

X    THE  OLD  UPTOWN  AQUARIUM 138 

XI     THE    FIRST    LIVE    MusK-Ox    EVER 

SEEN  IN  NEW  YORK 144 

XII     THE    DEER    I    SHOULD    NOT    HAVE 

KILLED 151 

XIII  LAND  OF  ETERNAL  SNOW 162 

XIV  CHARGED  BY  A  HERD  OF  BUFFALO.  . . .  171 
XV     THE  STORY  OF  FAUST  AND  MARGUE- 

RIPE 188 

XVI     CAPTURING    WILD    ANIMALS    WITH 

NAKED  HANDS 204 

XVII     "BLACK"  WHALE  CAPTURED  BY  AMA- 

GANSETT    FlSHERFOLK.  .  212 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVIII     How  ANIMALS  PLAY 230 

XIX     IN  A  WILD  ANIMAL  REPUBLIC 240 

XX     BEARS  I  HAVE  MET „ 259 

XXI     A  BEAR  I  NEVER  MET  AND  A  BEAR  I 

NEVER  WANT  TO  MEET 276 

XXII     A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES 292 

XXIII  OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANI- 

MALS    313 

XXIV  SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS 334 

XXV     FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES.  .  352 

XXVI     LIZARDS,  NEWTS  AND  SALAMANDERS  . .  384 

XXVII     SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES 399 

XXVIII     FROGS,     TOADS    AND     SOME    GRAY- 
HAIRED  LIES H 432 

XXIX     BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT 

Do  NOT 455 

XXX    SMALL  BIRD  TALK 510 

XXXI     How  TO   GET  ACQUAINTED  WITH 

THE  BIRDS 537 

XXXII     ORIGIN  OF  OUR  HANDS  AND  BACK- 
BONE   546 

XXXIII  STRANGE  CREATURES  MET  IN  THE 

WATER 556 

XXXIV  LITTLE   PEOPLE  OF  THE  OUTDOOR 

WORLD 568 

XXXV     CURIOSITY  OF  BIRDS   AND    BFASTS  580- 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

White-footed   Mice    and   the    Roofed   Birds'    Nest 7 

Birds'  Nests  adapted  by  Mice    9 

Water-Color  Sketches   of  Mice    19 

The  Woodchuck  under  .the   House    23 

Sweet  Death  of  a   Mouse    24 

The  Home  of  Fanny  Flying  Squirrel  27 

Pack   Rats    35 

Sketches  of  Pack  Rats  made  at  Lake  Chelan 37 

House  in  which  the  Pack  Rat  was  caught  in  an  unbaited 

trap 42 

He  Killed  Paddy  Pack  Rat's   Brothers  and   Sisters 44 

Paddy  Pack  Rat's  Nest  in  an  Old  Powder  Can 48 

Little   Chief 54 

Cruelty  Exercised  in  the  Name  of  Sport  56 

Parts  of  a  Mouse's  Anatomy   57 

Sketches   of   Short   Tail   Meadow   Rat 59 

Jumping   Mouse    63 

Common   Chipmunk    79 

Field   Sketches   of   Western   Chipmunks 81 

Chipmunk  in  the  Act  of  eating  a  White  Foot  Mouse ....     83 

Sketch  of  Western  Chipmunk    86 

Leg  of  Young  Bat  drawn  From  Life 91 

Sketches  of  Two  Species  of  Bats 93 

A   Resourceful   'Coon    102 

Hornets  in  Flight    I  IS 

Field  Sketches  of  Various  Insects 121 

The  "White  Death"  catching  a  Bumble  Bee 126 

Mamma    Hippo    131 

Studies  made  From  a  Live  Sea-Cow  133 

Two  Baby  Elephants  Sketched  at  the  Old  Aquarium...   139 

Bull  Moose,  Horns  Shed  and  Moose  Calves 157 

Nannie  and  the  Author    165 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS—  (continued) 

PAGE 

Pencil  Sketches  of  a  Live  Rocky  Mountain  Goat 167 

Nannie  169 

Bull  Preparing  for  a  Charge 173 

Buffalo  Calves  and  Domestic  Cattle 175 

A  Charging  Buffalo  178 

A  Nearer  View  of  the  Bison  when  in  Gentler  Mood 181 

Sketches  Made  by  the  Author  on  Flathead  Reservation.  184 

Faust  and  Marguerite  191 

Trail  of  Ruffed  Grouse  in  .the  Snow 211 

Whale  Captured  by  Amagansett  Fisherfolk  213 

Skull  of  Calf  Whale  217 

Diagram  of  Side,  Front  and  Top  of  Whale •. . .  220 

Whale  Parasitic  Crab  227 

Young  Coyote  233 

A  Young  Chimpanzee  237 

Grizzly  Cub  in  Yellowstone  Park  241 

A  Misunderstanding  Among  the  Bears 243 

Feeding  the  Bears 247 

Young  Big  Game  in  Yellowstone  Park 251 

Pelicans  in  Yellowstone  National  Park  255 

Wild  Geese  on  the  Roadside  257 

Black  Bear  Cubs,  Eighteen  Days  Old  263 

Photograph  of  the  Gentle  "Mr.  Dooley" 267 

Grizzly  Cub  "Dooley"  in  Yellowstone  Park 271 

Enjoying  a  "Slippery"  273 

Some  of  the  Bears  I  Have  Never  Met 278 

Mandy  Jane  Would  not  Hesitate  to  Leave  her  Bread 

Dough 285 

A  Few  of  the  Dogs 299 

Snapshot  of  Tree-Climbing  Bull  Terrier  311 

Unfinished  Work  of  a  Beaver  Upon  a  Large  Tree 315 

The  Opossum  With  Details  of  Parts 318 

This  Beaver  Has  All  the  Appearance  of  a  Dead  Animal 

posed  for  the  Camera  321 

Photograph  of  a  Fisher  probably  fast  in  a  Trap 323 

Photograph  of  a  Fish  that  the  Newspapers  announced  as 

a  Sea  Serpent 326 

Toten  Kill-a-Loo  Bird  333 

Game  in  Sight  342 

Lynx  and  Panther  Sketched  from  Nature 344 

The  Killing  346 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS — (continued) 

PAGE 

Dead  Mountain  Lion    348 

"Don't  Interrupt   My  Dinner"    351 

Fat  Giant  Cricket    359 

Flathead  Prairie  Cricket  eating  Cast  Off  Cigar 360 

Sin-Yale-a-Min    362 

Outlet  of  Kootenay  Lake  363 

Breaking  Camp  on  the  Flathead  Prairie 368 

Stanley,  the  Author  and  a  String  of  Trout 372 

Women  are  Always  the  Best  Fishermen    376 

Sketches  of  Newt   Skinning  Itself   387 

The   Spotted  Salamander   389 

The  Red  Eft  and  Red  Backed  Salamander 391 

The  Spotted  and  Red  Salamander    392 

Sketches  of  Lizards    397 

Handcuffed  by  a  Snake   402 

Top  Views  of  Self  Tying  Knot   404 

The  Harmless  Green   Snakes    - 407 

A  Baby  Snake  from  South  America   411 

Garter  Snake  and  Eleven  Eggs  Cut  from  It 414 

Food  of  the  Little  Brown  Snake  415 

Little  Brown  Snake  with  detail  of  Parts  422 

Big  Tink   Toad 433 

Some   interesting   Frogs    434 

Outline    of    Rabbit's     Head    showing    comparative    size 

of  Toad  437 

Poses  Assumed  by  my  Mouse  Eating  Frog 440 

Five-legged  Frog  446 

At  the  Outlet  of  Big  Tink  449 

Jim  Crow  to  the  Rescue  459 

Young  Barn  Owls  in  Various  Poses  465 

Rough  Rider's  Eagle 473 

Blackcrested    Night    Herons    485 

Author  Feeding  Young  Night  Heron 487 

Young  Blackcrested  Night  Heron  488 

Sketches  of  Flamingoes    501 

Photograph  of  Live  Free  Water  Ouzel  525 

Photograph  of  Pike  County  Oven  Birds'  Nest   527 

Sketches  of  the   Oven   Bird    529 


12  ADDITIONAL   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

View  of  Under  Side  of  Knot  Pulled  Tight  by  the  Snake  408 

The  Snake  Whips  Its  Tail  Around  My  Waist 410 

The  Snake  Was  Forced  to  Open  Up  Knot 410 

The  Milk  Snake  Laid  Six  Oblong  White  Eggs 422 

Map  Showing  Divisions  on  a  Bird  Used  in  Description. .  538 

Field  Notes  of  a  Bird 539 

How  to  Sketch  a  Bird 540 

A  Page  From  the  Author's  Note  Book 542 

Sketches  From  the  Author's  Note  Book 546 

Sketch  of  Man  in  Pose  of  a  Bird 547 

Fowl,  Showing  Parts  Corresponding  to  Man 548 

Comparative  Diagram  of  Horse  and  Bird 549 

Original  Notes  on  Hands  and  Wings 550 

Man  and  Ape  With  Wings 553 

Sketch  of  Man  With  Bat's  Wings -554 

Leg  of  Man,  Beetle  and  Bird 555 

Killing  a  Rattlesnake  in  the  Middle  of  a  Lake '.  558 

Woodchuck  Swimming  Across  Big  Tink 559 

Doe  Swimming 562 

Even  Reynard  the  Fox  Is  Never  Sure  of  His  Quarry. . . .  564 

The  Blue  Heron  Whips  an  Eagle 566 

A  Bear  Driven  Wild  By  Black  Flies 571 

A  Spill  of  Hornets 576 

The  Bees  Did  Not  Sting  the  Soldier  Who  Picked  Up 

a  Hive 578 

Inquisitive  Sand  Hill  Cranes « 580 

An  Uncomfortable  Feeling 581 

Horse  Studying  Art 582 

Fooling  the  Animals 583 

The  Voice  of  the  Coyote 584 

A  Barking  Fox 586 

We  Listened  to  the  Earnest  Persuasion  of  Our  Wives.  . .  588 


PREFACE 

THIS  is  simply  a  book  of  animals  and  is  made 
up   from  the  Author's  personal  notes  and 
sketches.      All    scientific   names   have   been 
omitted  and  big  words  avoided  as  far  as  prac- 
ticable, and  it  is  hoped  and  believed  that  some  of 
the  notes  and  drawings  may  be  of  value  to  older 
readers  for 

In  nature  there  is  nothing  unimportant, 
There  is  nothing  uninteresting, 
And  nothing  fully  understood! 

Hence  any  careful  observer's  notes  must  be  of 
value  in  adding  to  the  general  knowledge  of  the 
subject. 

What  we  need  and  what  is  coming  is  an  un- 
selfish, passionate  love  of  Nature,  not  for  Nature's 
sake,  but  for  humanity's  sake;  such  a  love  is  whole- 
some, manly,  invigorating,  and  uplifting. 

Born  in  an  artist's  family,  accustomed  from  in- 
fancy to  the  society  of  sculptors,  painters,  and 
poets,  it  was  natural  for  me  when  a  lad  to  dream 
dreams  and  build  castles  in  the  air,  but  these  cas- 
tles did  not  glitter  with  gold  nor  was  the  sun  re- 
flected from  their  jeweled  turrets  and  bespangled 
domes.  The  dreams  were  of  the  wilderness  and  a 
fairyland  inhabited  by  all  manner  of  wild  creatures 
and  wild  people  like  those  described  by  Captain 
Mayne  Reid;  a  country  where  the  towering  moun- 

siii 


xiv  PREFACE 

tains  wore  white  caps  of  snow  in  midsummer  to 
keep  their  heads  cool,  where  the  prairies  were  cov- 
ered with  crazy  quilts  of  flowers  and  dotted  with 
real  live  buffalo  and  elk. 

If  this  book  succeeds  in  awakening  a  love  for 
wild  Nature  in  even  a  small  portion  of  the  Ameri- 
can youth  it  will  be  counted  as  a  success.  Well 
barbered  and  manicured  Nature,  closely  shaven 
lawns  and  neatly  trimmed  hedges  are  perfectly 
proper  in  yards  to  suburban  houses,  but  contact 
with  Nature  without  a  hair-cut  and  unshaven  is 
what  gives  strength  to  one's  muscles,  brightness  to 
one's  eyes,  and  makes  the  red  blood  dance  in  one's 
veins.  Unfortunately  there  are  many  who  cannot 
appreciate  mountains  destitute  of  summer  hotels, 
unbridged  streams  or  solemn  dark  woods,  no  more 
than  the  deaf  can  enjoy  music  or  the  blind  the 
beauties  of  a  sunset,  but  even  the  deaf  can  enjoy 
seeing  mountains  and  forests,  and  the  blind  feel- 
ing the  fresh  stimulating  air  of  the  wilderness,  and 
this  book  of  random  notes  is  not  intended  for  peo- 
ple unable  to  appreciate  the  handicraft  of  the 
Creator,  or  understand  what  is  meant  by 

"  He  prayeth  well  who  loveth  well 
Both  man  and  bird  and  beast." 

So  recent  is  it,  since  man  has  acquired  his  present 
gigantic  mental  powers,  that  his  moral  character  is 
still  infantile  in  its  development  and  like  the  giant 
baby  that  he  is,  he  is  a  menace  and  a  source  of 
terror  to  all  the  rest  of  creation. 

Grand  old  Mother  Nature  has  long  been 
misunderstood  by  her  pet  child  and  ever  since  men 


PREFACE  xv 

with  prehensile  toes,  lived  arboreal  lives  capering 
among  the  branches  in  the  primeval  forests  they 
have  looked  upon  good  old  Mother  Nature  as  an 
enemy  to  be  subdued  at  all  hazards  and  any  cost. 
In  this  silly  warfare  waged  against  our  best  friend, 
we  have  denuded  the  earth  of  magnificent  forests 
of  valuable  trees,  unnecessarily  destroying  and 
burning  enough  material  to  supply  our  descendants 
with  shade  and  shelter  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

We  have  greedily  sought  the  oil  buried  beneath 
the  ground  and  wasted  enough  to  supply  genera- 
tions of  men  with  light  and  heat. 

We  have  tapped  the  veins  of  natural  gas  and, 
like  the  children  that  we  are,  allowed  it  to  burn 
continuously  because  it  was  too  much  trouble  or 
expense  to  turn  it  off  during  the  daytime. 

We  have  annihilated  beautiful  and  useful  birds 
for  the  trifling  temporary  income  their  skins 
brought  us,  when  sold  to  our  women  to  be  used  as 
grotesque  and  uncanny  ornaments  for  their  dear 
heads  and  very  much  dearer  hats. 

We  have  ruthlessly  hunted  and  exterminated 
animals  of  priceless  economic  value  for  the  petty 
price  of  their  pelts  or  the  savage  joy  derived  from 
butchering  them. 

And  now  we  stand  with  expanded  chests  crying, 
Look  at  the  greatness  of  man,  see  how  he  has  con- 
quered Nature! 

Or  we  flock  to  the  churches  and  on  bended  knees 
pray  that  the  floods  be  abated  or  entreat  that  rain 
be  sent  to  slack  the  thirst  of  our  parched  fields, 


xvi  PREFACE 

blaming  Providence  for  results  directly  caused  by 
our  own  recklessness  in  denuding  the  earth  of  its 
natural  reservoir — the  woodland. 

Where  the  banks  are  covered  with  forests  the 
snow  melts  slowly  in  the  spring,  but  where  the 
trees  have  been  cleared  away,  the  waters  come  sud- 
denly and  with  a  mad  rush,  leaving  devastation 
and  ruin  in  their  wake ! 

But  do  not  think  that  I  am  pessimistic,  for  I  am 
a  loyal  optimist.  What  I  am  trying  to  show  is 
that  we  are  prodigal  sons,  and  although  we  may 
yet  have  to  do  our  stunt  as  swineherds  we  even 
now  have  a  growing  consciousness  of  our  sins  and 
will  repent  in  time  to  save  some  of  our  great  and 
incomprehensible  inheritance. 

Good  old  Dame  Nature  is  even  now  patiently 
looking  forward  to  our  repentance  and  reformation 
and  sits  waiting  the  prodigal's  return,  with  a  large 
and  fatted  calf  for  our  delectation. 

But  we  cannot  hope  to  reach  this  practical  com- 
mon-sense view  of  the  situation  by  reason  alone. 
Sentiment  has  ever  been  a  more  powerful  incentive 
to  action  than  reason,  and  I  am  glad  to  see  that 
sentiment  seems  to  be  now  turning  people  to  a 
tardy  appreciation  of  nature  and  the  grand  natural 
resources  of  our  great  continent  of  America. 


A  WILDERNESS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 


CHAPTER  I 


A  WILDERNESS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY 

BOB-WHITES,  WOODCOCKS,  MUSKRATS  AND  OWLS  TO  BE  FOUND 
WITHIN  THE  CITY  LIMITS — EMPTY  BIRDS*  NESTS  REMODELED 
AND  USED  BY  WHITE-FOOTED  MICE — WHITE-FOOTED  MICE 
AS  PETS — THEIR  FOOD  AND  NESTS 

In  these  days  of  trolley-cars,  for  a  nickel  any- 
one can  visit  the  country,  and  even  find  small  spots 
of  real  wild  land. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  because  you  live 
in  a  city,  a  long  journey  is  necessary  before  you  can 
see  a  real  wilderness. 

On  a  pleasant  afternoon,  in  the  spring  or  sum- 
mer, take  a  trolley-car  and  before  long  you  will 
probably  pass  some  neglected  marshy  land;  stop 
the  car,  get  out  and  walk  to  the  swamp  you  just 
passed,  and,  if  you  are  not  afraid  of  wet  feet  and 
torn  clothes,  enter.  In  five  minutes'  time  you  have 
not  only  lost  all  traces  of  civilization,  but  all  signs 
of  the  presence  of  man. 

The  trees,  whose  interlocking  branches  conceal 
the  sky,  might  well  be  a  thousand  miles  from  any 
human  habitation. 

The  almost  impassable  thicket  of  green  briar, 
the  festoons  of  cable-like  wild  grape-vines,  the 


4  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

rushes,  the  treacherous  bog  under  foot  concealed  by 
a  carpet  of  soft  mosses,  coarse  grasses,  and  rank 
green  skunk  cabbages,  is  just  the  same  in  appear- 
ance as  it  was  when  the  occasional  tracks  left  by 
the  moccasined  feet  of  the  red  man  were  the  only 
signs  of  human  life  in  the  vast  wilderness  of  a  con- 
tinent! 

You  are  face  to  face  with  Nature.  Not  in  her 
most  entrancing  form,  but  always  wonderfully 
beautiful  when  unmarred  by  the  hand  of  man. 

Here  within  sound  of  the  screaming  locomotives 
the  woodcock  rears  its  persecuted  family.  Here 
timid  Bob  White  has  found  a  temporary  retreat, 
and  even  ventures  to  whistle,  in  a  subdued  tone, 
his  well-known  call  to  his  dapper  little  mate  as  she 
sits  on  her  scores  of  pretty  white  eggs. 

Close  by  the  inoffensive  muskrat  gnaws  content- 
edly at  a  root;  the  bullfrog  bellows  forth  his 
sonorous  notes;  red-winged  blackbirds,  robins,  cat- 
birds, hawks,  and  owls  build  their  nests  and  rear 
their  young  undisturbed  by  the  dreaded  small  boy. 
The  gray  squirrel  bounds  among  the  branches 
overhead,  and  the  beautiful  little  flying  squirrel 
peeps  from  its  hole  in  the  red  cedar,  all  as  if  the 
noise  and  smoke  of  a  great  city  were  not  within 
hearing  and  sight  but  for  the  dense  underbrush. 
Just  such  places  exist  inside  the  corporation  lines 
of  New  York  City. 

The  poison  sumac  and  thorny  vines  form  a  bar- 
rier which  leaves  no  charms  for  the  small  boy 
and  past  which  few  pot  hunters  venture.  The 


A  WILDERNESS  IN  NEW  YORK  5 

local  sportsman  is  content  to  wait  until  Bob  White 
and  woodcock  families  are  old  enough  to  venture 
out  of  their  retreat  and  be  murdered  in  the  most 
approved  style  of  the  war  of  extermination.  It  is 
in  such  neighborhoods  that  the 

WHITE-FOOTED  MOUSE  ABOUNDS. 

If  you  visit  the  swamp  early  in  the  autumn  when 
the  white-throated  sparrow  is  whistling  his  plain- 
tive, tremulous  call,  you  will  find  the  scene 
changed.  Mr.  Woodcock  and  all  his  family  have 
left  or  been  killed;  Bob  White  and  family  have 
shared  the  same  fate.  The  winds  have  stripped 
the  trees  of  their  leaves,  and  the  frost  has  changed 
the  grass  from  green  to  brown.  The  thickets  and 
trees  are  gray  and  bare  in  the  swamps,  and  the 

EMPTY  NESTS 

of  the  blackbird,  robin,  thrush,  and  greenlet  are 
now  plainly  discernible  as  dark  objects  against  a 
leaden  sky. 

Did  I  say  the  nests  were  empty?  So  they  ap- 
pear at  first  glance,  but  an  examination  will  show 
that  some  new  tenant  has  been  altering  these  sum- 
mer houses  and  refitting  them  for  winter  quarters, 
that  is  all  of  them  that  are  not  more  than  five  or 
six  feet  above  the  earth. 

In  some  sections  of  the  country  it  will  be  found 
that  every  birds'  nest  near  the  ground  is  filled 
with  the  down  stolen  from  the  cat-tail  in  the 
neighboring  swamp,  or  with  dry  lichens  or  moss, 


6  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

gathered  from  the  bark  and  roots  of  the  trees,  and 
your  curiosity  will  be  aroused  and  you  will  wonder 
what  accident  tilled  all  these  birds'  nests;  but,  when 
you  attempt  to  investigate  more  closely  and  by 
chance  touch  the  branch  upon  which  the  nest  rests, 
you  will  probably  be  surprised  to  see  a  little  brown 
animal  pop  out  of  the  nest,  run  up  on  the  end  of 
the  branch  and  sit  there  looking  at  you  with  his 
little  beady  eyes  as  if  he  were  inquiring  why  you 
interrupted  his  slumbers. 

Should  you  care  to  venture  through  the  cat- 
briers  and  if  you  are  not  deterred  by  fear  of  the 
poisonous  sap  of  the  white  sumac,  you  may  be  re- 
warded by  seeing  many  of  these  nimble-footed, 
bright-eyed  little  tenants  of  last  year's  .birds'  nests, 
as  they  leap  from  their  cosy  quarters,  alarmed  by 
the  rude  swaying  of  the  branches  upon  which  their 
hanging  home  rests.  If  you  are  a  true  woodsman, 
and  know  how  to  assume  a  pose  in  which  you  can 
keep  perfectly  quiet  and  still  for  a  long  time,  you 
will  see  little  white-footed  mice  run  back  to  their 
homes,  where  they  may  easily  be  captured  by  plac- 
ing your  handerchief  over  the  nest  and  taking  the 
house  and  tenants  together. 

One  Sunday  I  examined  twenty  or  more  birds' 
nests  that  I  found  in  the  low  bushes  of  a  bit  of 
swamp  land,  only  two  of  which  had  not  been 

REMODELED   BY   THE    LITTLE   ARCHITECTS. 

I  made  careful  sketches  of  these  nests,  repro- 
ductions of  which  accompany  this  article.  One 


WHITE-FOOTED    MICE  AND    ROOFED    BIRD'S    NEST 


8  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

nest  has  been  filled  with  the  down  from  the  seed 
stalk  of  the  cat-tail.  Under  this  warm  coverlid 
little  White-foot  can  sleep  snug  and  warm  in  the 
frostiest  weather.  Another  nest  that  has  been 
lined  and  roofed  with  moss  has  a  doorway  at  the 
top  and  near  the  eaves,  so  to  speak,  furnishing  an 
entrance  and  exit  for  the  occupant. 

Like  their  cousins,  the  flying  squirrels,  these  lit- 
tle mice  can  not  stand  wet  and  cold,  and,  after  a 
driving  rain,  they  are  not  infrequently  found  dead 
upon  the  ground.  Consequently,  when  the  damp 
snow  covers  the  top  of  their  nest  and  the  sun  be- 
gins to  melt  the  snow  the  mice  crawl  out  and  make 
their  winter  homes  under  the  roots  of  trees  and  the 
stone  walls. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  some  mouse  is  more 
ambitious  and  more  ingenious  than  the  rest  of  his 
kind.  In  the  Borough  of  Queens  I  found  a  nest, 
shown  in  the  corner  of  the  accompanying  leaf 
from  my  sketch  book,  which  had  been  roofed  over 
with 

A  THATCH   OF  RUSHES 

and  a  door  made  on  one  side  for  an  entrance  and 
exit  of  the  little  squatter.  This  nest  is  in  the 
National  Museum  at  Washington,  where  I  sent  it 
some  years  ago,  and,  as  far  as  I  know,  is  unique. 
Usually  the  little  rodents  are  satisfied  with 

COVERING  THEMSELVES  WITH  A  WARM   HEAP  OF 
CAT-TAIL  DOWN, 

moss  or  the  finely  shredded  inner  bark  of  the  cedar 


FROM    WATER-COLORED    FIELD    SKETCHES 


io  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

trees;  in  this  warm  material  they  sleep  'during  the 
daytime  and  occupy  their  homes  until  the  first  snow 
comes. 

Although  Audubon  describes  nests  made  by 
white-footed  mice  "with  nearly  as  much  art  as 
the  nests  of  the  Baltimore  oriole,"  I  am  quite 
certain  the  little  four-footed  artisans  in  my  imme- 
diate neighborhood  seldom,  if  ever,  take  the 
trouble  to  build  their  own  houses,  much  preferring 
that  some  other  architect  shall  do  it  for  them. 

I  have  found  white-footed  mice  occupying  the 
nests  of  flying  squirrels  in  red  cedar  trees;  have 
seen  them  scamper  from  all  kinds  of  birds'  nests 
that  are  located  within  arms'  reach  of  the  ground; 
have  found  their  storehouses  in  the  hollow  rails 
of  a  fence;  have  dug  the  little  animals  out  of  the 
burrows  of  other  small  creatures;  and  have  even 
caught  them  housekeeping  in  the  walls  of  a  round- 
topped  muskrat's  hut  situated  in  the  center  of  a 
frozen  pond.  Central  Park  probably  shelters  a 
number  of  these  little  animals.  A  very  superficial 
survey  disclosed  one  catbird's  nest  that  had  lately 
been  occupied  by  deer  mice.  Unlike  the  common 
house  mouse, 

THE  WHITE-FOOTED  MOUSE  HAS  NOT  BEEN 

DEGRADED 

and  contaminated  by  living  with  the  lords  of 
creation;  on  the  contrary,  it  avoids  the  habita- 
tion of  man,  preferring  the  sweet  nuts,  seeds,  and 
berries  of  the  woods  to  the  refuse  of  the  kitchen. 


A  WILDERNESS  IN  NEW  YORK  11 

Although  it  will  eat  Indian  corn  and  grain  of  all 
kinds,  such  material  appears  to  form  but  a  small 
part  of  the  mouse's  diet.  I  have  examined  many 
storehouses  of  the  white-footed  mouse,  and  never 
yet  discovered  either  wheat  or  corn  in  them,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  the  stores  examined 
were  many  of  them  located  in  the  thickets  border- 
ing both  corn  and  wheat  fields. 

When  Indian  corn  is  left  standing  in  stacks  late 
into  the  fall  or  winter,  I  must  acknowledge  that 
the  good  judgment  of  the  deer  mouse  often  causes 
it  to  select  the  stacks  for  a  place  to  locate  its 
winter  residence;  the  perfect  shelter,  abundant 
food,  and  soft  silk  for  nestmaking  offer  induce- 
ments not  to  be  overlooked  by  such  a  practical 
mind.  The  damage  done  the  farmer,  however,  is 
so  slight  as  not  to  be  worthy  of  attention.  As  a 
pet  the  white-footed  mouse  will  be  found  to  pos- 
sess a  timid  and  gentle  nature,  which,  combined 
with  his  small,  agile,  form,  brown  back,  white 
belly,  delicate  pink  and  white  feet,  and  large,  lus- 
trous eyes,  will  seldom  fail  to  win  the  affection 
of  any  one  who  cares  for  him.  The  pair  that  were 
captured  in  the  muskrat  house  made  willing  cap- 
tives, and  lived  contentedly  in  a  high  narrow  cage 
built  for  them  of  wire  netting. 

A  NEST  OF  THE  SUMMER  YELLOW  BIRD 

still  resting  in  the  fork  of  maple  in  which  it  was 
originally  built,  was  fastened  by  wires  to  the  side 
of  the  cage  near  the  top.  The  mice  took  imme- 


12  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

diate  possession  of  the  nest,  and  used  it  as  a 
dormitory  until  spring;  but  while  the  buds  in  the 
orchard  and  woodland  still  imprisoned  the  blos- 
soms, and  before  the  first  swallow  had  made  its 
appearance,  my  little  captives  destroyed  the  bird's 
nest  and  gnawed  off  a  portion  of  the  window  cur- 
tain that  accidently  fell  against  the  cage,  and  with 
the  material  thus  obtained  they  built  a  globular 
house  on  the  green  sod  at  the  bottom  of  their  cage. 
In  the  subcellar  of  the  new  dwelling  an  interesting 
family  of  little  ones  was  born.  The  instinct,  rea- 
son, or  automatism  of  the  mice  taught  them  that 
the  bird's  nest  would  be  too  small  for  a  larger 
family,  and  with  commendable  common  sense  they 
erected  a  more  commodious,  though  less  poetic, 
abode  on  the  ground. 

The  ingenuity  that  the  deer  mice  display  in 
adapting  and  remodeling  such  shelter  as  they  hap- 
pen to  find,  to  suit  their  own  wants,  is  to  me  more 
wonderful  than  the  common  instinct  which  teaches 
the  Baltimore  oriole  to  reproduce  the  same  nest 
year  after  year  automatically  like  the  bees  when 
they  build  their  geometrical  honey  cells. 


CHAPTER  II 


ALONE  IN  A  ROOM  FULL  OF  RATS 

THREATENED  BY  A  RAT,  NOISY  RATS,  ENGLISH  RATS,  BAD  RATS, 
DANGEROUS  RATS,  SEWER  RATS — POLL  PARROT  WHIPS  RATS 
IN  FAIR  FIGHT — SINGING  MICE — THE  FAMILY  OF  BEAUTIFUL 
PESTS,  FLYING  SQUIRRELS,  THEIR  NESTS  IN  A  STOVE-PIPE, 
IN  TROUSERS  AND  IN  BOOTS — FLYING  SQUIRRELS  IN  WINTER 
— AN  ALBINO  FLYING  SQUIRREL  WITH  PINK  EYES. 

Being  curious  to  know  how  and  for  what  pur- 
pose the  Norway  brown  rat,  which  infests  our  sta- 
bles and  houses,  makes  such  a  terrible  rumpus 
after  dark,  I  visited  a  certain  summer  kitchen,  one 
night,  that  had  the  reputation  of  being  haunted. 
The  room  had  a  brick  floor,  board  walls,  a  com- 
mon iron  sink  with  hydrant,  and  a  flight  of  wooden 
steps  leading  from  the  house  proper,  to  the  paved 
floor. 

There  was  a  gas-jet  in  the  summer  kitchen.  After 
lighting  this,  I  seated  myself  upon  the  steps  and 
waited  for  the  ghosts  to  appear;  I  had  long 
since  learned  that  by  keeping  quiet  and  immovable 
one  can  disarm  the  suspicions  of  the  most  timid 
creatures,  and  I  reasoned  that  since  ghosts  never 
appeared  in  daylight  and  always  fled  at  the  crow 
of  a  rooster,  they  must  be  exceedingly  shy.  I  had 
not  occupied  my  seat  very  long,  before  I  saw  a 

13 


i4  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

bewhiskered  nose  peeping  from  one  of  the  numer- 
ous rat  holes,  where  the  board  walls  met  the  paved 
floor. 

As  I  had  anticipated  the  ghosts  lived  in  rat 
holes.  But  before  any  of  them  emerged  there 
were  numerous  small  vibrating  noses  to  be  seen  at 
the  entrance  of  many  of  the  dark  passages,  which 
led  into  the  earth,  below  the  bricks.  For  some 
time  the  ghosts  were  content  to  keep  their  stations 
in  their  doorways  and  watch  the  big  intruder  with 
their  beady  black  eyes.  At  length,  right  from 
under  the  steps  where  I  was  sitting,  a  great  grizzled 
old  male  rat  appeared;  he  was  evidently  a  veteran 
and  the  scars  about  his  face  and  ears  told  in  an  un- 
mistakable manner  the  tale  of  many  a  fight. 

THE  GRIZZLED  OLD  WARRIOR 

not  only  showed  no  fear,  but  was  impudent  enough 
to  openly  threaten  me;  he  did  this  by  making  short 
jumps  toward  my  feet,  all  the  time  emitting  a 
noise  which  I  can  only  imitate  by  placing  my 
tongue  against  my  front  teeth  and  sucking  it  away. 
The  nearest  I  can  come  to  spelling  the  sound  is 
s-t-u-t.  Several  times  in  fear,  that  the  pugna- 
cious rodent  might  really  attack  me  I  shook  my 
foot,  and  caused  him  to  retreat.  My  attention  had 
been  so  occupied  with  this  impertinent  old  rascal 
that  I  had  entirely  forgotten  the  ghosts,  until  the 
noise  made  by  the  upsetting  of  a  tin  basin  re- 
minded me  of  their  presence  and  caused  me  to  look 
around  the  room.  I  was  amazed  at  what  I  beheld. 


ALONE  IN  A  ROOM  FULL  OF  RATS  15 

It  was  a  sight  that  would  have  pleased  the  Pied 
Piper  and  warmed  the  cockles  of  his  heart.  The 
room  fairly  swarmed  with  rats.  There  were  big 
rats,  little  rats,  and  half-grown  rats.  For  an  hour 
or  more  I  sat  upon  those  wooden  steps  and 
watched  the  circus.  The  boisterous  play  of  these 
creatures  made  me  understand  how  it  is  possible 
for  such  small  animals  as  rats  to  make  so  much 
noise  in  an  attic  or  a  vacant  room. 

One  rat  ran  up  to  the  top  of  the  broom  handle; 
the  broom  was  standing  in  the  corner  by  the  sink, 
resting  partly  against  the  sink  and  partly  against 
the  wall  and  no  sooner  had  the  rat  done  this 
than  another  rat  followed.  Then  all  the  rats 
seemed  to  be  possessed  by  a  desire  to  occupy  the 
pinnacle  of  the  broom  handle  and  so  they  swarmed 
up  and  up  until  the  brown  mass  at  the  top  made 
the  broom  topple  and  fall.  In  falling  it  hit  a  lot 
of  cooking  implements  and  a  large  dish-pan  and 
brought  them  down  with  a  bang  and  a  crash  upon 
the  brick  floor,  but  the  rats  seemed  to  take  this  as 
a  matter  of  course  and  showed  not  the  least  alarm. 
As  soon  as  they  landed  on  their  feet  they  imme- 
diately set  about  finding  some  other  means  of  en- 
tertainment. They  pulled  every  movable  thing 
over  the  floor,  back  and  forward ;  they  took  an  old 
newspaper  and  yanked  it  from  one  end  of  the  sum- 
mer kitchen  to  the  other.  One  of  them  found  a 
chicken  bone  and  then  ensued  a  wild  race  around 
and  around  the  kitchen.  They  indulged  in  phe- 
nomenal leaps ;  they  tried  to  scale  the  walls  by  run- 


16  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ning  up  them  at  the  corners;  they  upset  more  tin 
pans,  and  only  disappeared  when  I  clapped  my 
hands  and  stamped  my  feet.  The  big  old  male  rat 
being  the  last  to  enter  his  hole,  did  it  only  after  a 
slow  retreat  and  a  continuous  scolding,  stut !  stut ! 
stut! 

ENGLISH    RATS. 

An  old  gentleman  in  speaking  of  his  school 
days  at  the  celebrated  Eton  school  in  England, 
said  that  sixty  years  ago,  the  sixth  form  boys  were 
accustomed  to  eat  their  supper  in  the  "Long 
Chamber,"  where  the  rats  were  very  plentiful  and 
would  come  trooping  out  at  supper  time  from  their 
holes  in  the  wainscot  to  feed  on  the  food  thrown 
to  them  by  the  boys. 

WHEN  THE  RATS  BECAME  TOO  NUMEROUS 

the  boys,  while  the  rats  were  feeding,  would  send 
their  fags  to  stop  up  their  holes  with  stockings,  so 
as  to  trap  the  rats  in  the  following  manner:  after 
the  stocking  foot  and  leg  was  thrust  in  the  hole 
and  the  opening  at  the  top  of  the  stocking  care- 
fully spread  open  and  fastened  there  and  all  was 
ready  the  boys  would  stampede  the  rats.  The 
rodents,  of  course,  would  make  for  their  holes  and 
dive  into  the  fags'  stockings,  which  were  then 
withdrawn  and  the  rats  killed  by  banging  them 
against  the  bed-steads;  after  which  the  poor  fags 
put  on  the  stockings  and  wore  them. 


ALONE  IN  A  ROOM  FULL  OF  RATS  17 

During  the  summer  of  1858,  while  school  was 
closed,  workmen  tore  up.  the  floor  of  the  "Long 
Chamber"  and  removed  two  large  cart  loads  of 
bones  which  the  rats  had  carried  down  their  holes 
and  deposited  beneath. 

RATS  ARE  DANGEROUS 

under  certain  conditions.  Every  one  is  familiar 
with  the  expression  that  "even  a  rat  will  fight  when 
cornered,"  but  from  all  accounts  it  does  not  seem 
to  be  always  necessary  to  corner  the  animals  in 
order  to  make  them  fight.  When  I  was  in  the  city 
engineer's  office  of  Cincinnati,  the  sewerage  en- 
gineer's office  adjoined  ours.  The  surveyors 
from  the  latter  office  frequently  had  to  enter  the 
sewers  and  they  never  did  so  without  going  armed 
with  revolvers  to  protect  themselves  from  the  big 
rats  which  infest  these  places. 

THE  BITE  OF  A  RAT 

is  exceedingly  dangerous,  probably  because  the 
rat's  teeth  are  coated  with  all  manner  of  vile  stuff 
which  produces  blood  poisoning.  My  brother, 
James  Carter  Beard,  was  once  bitten  by  a  Norway 
brown  rat  through  the  finger,  and  his  arm  be- 
came very  much  inflamed  and  swelled,  from  the 
hand  to  the  shoulder,  to  the  serious  alarm  of  our 
parents  and  physician. 

THAT  RATS  WILL  ATTACK  YOUNG  CHILDREN 
is  only  too  true.     Recently  two  children  of  Bos- 


18       DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ton  were  bitten  by  sewer  rats,  probably  fatally,  and 
a  little  baby  boy  in  Brooklyn,  four  months  old, 
had  his  finger  badly  chewed  before  his  mother 
could  rescue  him.  Instances  are  not  wanting 
of  full  grown  men  being  bitten  while  asleep  or 
even  attacked  while  awake  by  rats. 

A  man  in  Washington  who  attempted  to  sleep 
in  a  cellar,  only  escaped  from  the  hungry  rodents 
after  he  had  received  more  than  a  hundred  wounds. 

A  man  in  Philadelphia  entered  a  brewer's  grain 
pit  and  before  he  could  be  rescued  from  the  rats 
his  body  was  covered  with  bloody  wounds. 

A  farmer's  boy  of  East  Berlin,  Pennsylvania, 
uncovered  a  lot  of  rats  while  tearing  up  the  barn 
floor,  and  although  he  succeeded  in  killing  a  dozen 
or  more,  the  rats  made  a  fierce  fight,  and  when 
friends  found  the  boy  he  was  unconscious  from  loss 
of  blood. 

A  policeman  in  New  York  was  badly  bitten  on 
the  leg  by  a  big  sewer  rat  which  he  attempted  to 
hit  with  his  club. 

A  man  in  Brooklyn  made  a  kick  at  a  rat  he  saw 
running  across  the  sidewalk,  and  when  the  ugly 
creature  fastened  its  teeth  in  his  leg  he  learned  to 
his  sorrow  that  rats  will  sometimes  fight.  The 
newspapers  of  the  day  have  frequent  accounts  of 
rats  fatally  or  seriously  wounding  human  beings 
and,  after  making  due  allowance  for  the  "en- 
thusiasm" of  reporters,  there  will  be  still  sufficient 
evidence  to  rank  the  rat  among  dangerous  animals 
and  to  induce  us  to  use  due  caution  when  forced 


WATER-COLOR    SKETCHES 


NATURE 


I. 

2. 

3- 
4-— 

5 

7- — 
8.- 
9-- 
10 

i  i 


-Left  hind   foot  of  common   house  mouse. 
-Left  hand   of  common   house  mouse. 
-Common  house  mouse. 
-White- footed    mouse    with    young. 

Left    foot    of    white-footed    mouse. 

Left    hand    of    white-footed    mouse. 

Side  view  of  white-footed  mouse. 
-Front  view  of  white-footed  mouse. 
-Under  side  of  white-footed  mouse. 

— White-footed   mouse   after    being   drowned    in    a   plate  of   soup. 
— Common   "Norway"   Brown   Rat. 


20  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

to  come  in  contact  with  the  disgusting  rodents 
which  inhabit  our  cities  and  houses. 

A  Flushing  rat  made  the  mistake  of  his  life  in 
attacking  a  parrot  belonging  to  a  neighbor  of  mine. 
There  was  a  terrible  rumpus. 

POLLY  USED  VIOLENT  LANGUAGE 

and  more  violent  measures  to  defend  herself.  She 
lost  some  feathers  and  got  some  scratches,  but  she 
must  have  ripped  that  rat  up  in  a  heart-rending 
manner,  for  the  cage  was  bedaubed  with  blood 
and  a  trail  of  gore  led  across  the  dining-room  floor, 
through  the  kitchen  to  a  large  rat  hole  where  it 
ended.  It  was  a  record,  bearing  mute  testimony  to 
the  ability  of  Polly  to  take  care  of  herself  even 
when  attacked  by  a  midnight  marauder. 

Mice  are  more  interesting  than  the  big  dirty 
rats  and  when  one  meets 

A  SINGING  MOUSE 

one  has  indeed  a  novelty. 

A  correspondent  to  the  London  Daily  Mail 
writes  about  a  singing  mouse;  he  says  that  it  has 
"been  warbling  just  like  a  canary."  Another  man 
writing  to  the  Indianapolis  News  tells  of  a  sing- 
ing mouse  which  he  caught  and  kept  in  captivity. 
A  dispatch  to  the  Cleveland  Plain  Dealer  tells  of 
another  man  who  also  caught  a  mouse  which  he 
claimed  "whistled  and  sang  like  a  canary."  Per- 
sonally I  know  of  only  two  singing  mice,  one  was 


ALONE  IN  A  ROOM  FULL  OF  RATS  21 

in  a  house  of  a  relative  of  mine  in  Ohio,  and  one 
in  my  own  home  on  Long  Island.  It  is  claimed  by 
some  writers  that  singing  mice  are  afflicted  with 
bronchitis  and  that  what  we  call  singing  is  only 
the  wheezing  of  the  invalid  mouse.  Whatever  the 
cause  may  be  the  noise  they  make,  as  I  remember 
it,  has  stronger  claims  to  be  called  music  than  have 
many  of  the  so-called  songs  of  our  native  warblers. 
From  various  reports  it  appears  that, 

LIKE  GREY  SQUIRRELS  AND  LEMMINGS,  RATS 
SOMETIMES  MIGRATE. 

In  1904  reports  came  from  Illinois  that  certain 
rural  districts  had  been  visited  by  swarms  of  rats, 
one  farmer  having  killed  on  his  own  place,  three 
thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty-five  of  them 
without  apparently  diminishing  their  number.  Rats' 
skins  are  reported  to  have  some  value,  and  when 
tanned  are  said  to  be  used  for  the  thumbs  of  fine  kid 
gloves,  while  the  whiskers  of  mice  are  used  in 
manufacturing  expensive  flies  fancied  by  anglers. 
But  if  these  rodents  were  of  any  great  -value 
we  would  soon  find  means  of  exterminating 
them.  The  good  they  do  as  scavengers  is 
hardly  of  enough  importance  to  entitle  them 
to  a  credit  mark,  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  harm 
they  do  in  spreading  the  plague  and  other  diseases 
is  in  itself  sufficient  reason  for  a  war  of  extermina- 
tion. We  may  exterminate  beautiful  birds,  the 
dainty  prong-horned  antelopes,  the  magnificent 
and  stately  bison,  but  rats  and  mice  will  probably 


22  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

last  as  long  as  the  human  race — safe  because  of 
their  lack  of  commercial  value. 

Both  the  house  mouse  and  house  rat  are  dis- 
gusting degenerates,  and  while  every  living  ani- 
mal is  a  thing  of  interest,  it  is  the  wild  creatures 
of  the  wood  and  field  that  excite  our  enthusiasm 
and  not  the  parasitic  animals  which  infest  the 
cities. 

All  of  us  who  spend  part  of  our  time  living  in 
the  woods  know  that  fairyland  is  around  us  and 
that  we  have  for  neighbors 

REAL   LIVE  BROWNIES 

who  work  strange  deeds  at  night  in  the  sleeping 
woods. 

From  her  hole  in  the  old  chestnut  tree 

FANNY  FLYING  SQUIRREL 

watched  the  sturdy  lads  "snaking"  logs  through 
the  grove,  and  she  saw  them  roll  the  logs  up  skids 
until -the  pile  took  on  the  form  of  a  house;  the 
little  squirrel  waited  until  the  house  was  all 
finished,  and  then  she  passed  the  word  to  the  wood 
brownies,  and  they  all  moved  in !  The  bats  took 
up  their  quarters  between  the  logs  of  the  second 
story;  the  red  squirrels  between  the  logs  of  the 
first  story,  the  white-footed  mice  and  large  wood 
rats  in  all  unoccupied  nooks. 

The  Phoebe  bird  took  possession  of  a  projec- 
tion over  the  kitchen  door,  the  robin  built  its  nest 


ALONE  IN  A  ROOM  FULL  OF  RATS 


THE  WOODCHUCK  UNDER  THE  HOUSE 

on  the  soap  shelf  by  the  towel  rack;  the  black- 
tailed  hornets  defied  the  paper  trust  and  built  them- 
selves a  paper  balloon  under  the  apex  of  the  eaves; 
the  woodchuck  satisfied  himself  with  a  home  under 
the  kitchen  floor;  the  bumble  bees  occupied  an 
auger  hole  in  a  log  of  the  areaway,  and  Fanny  Fly- 
ing Squirrel  found  a  fine  place  on  top  of  the  frame 
of  the  bedroom  window. 

All  seemed  to  think  that  the  log  cottage  was 
built  especially  for  them,  and  at  first  resented 
human  intrusion;  but  after  a  while,  even  the  hor- 
nets would  fly  about  in  the  most  friendly  manner, 
catching  the  flies  on  the  dinner  table  or  even  pick- 
ing them  from  off  one's  nose  or  hands. 

None  of  the  wild  creatures  can  be  taught  the 
sacredness  of  property  rights;  they  are  all  born 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


SWEET    DEATH    OF    A    MOUSE 


communists,  and  believe  that  all  forms  of  wealth 
are  public  property.  This  belief  often  produces 
dire  results  to  the  brownies  themselves,  for  in- 
stance morning  after  morning  the  milk  was  given 
to  the  dog,  because  he  was  the  only  one  of  the  le- 
gitimate household  who  had  no  objection  to 


MILK  WITH  A  DROWNED  WOOD  MOUSE  IN  IT. 

You  see  the  little  brownies  thought  the  milk  was 
for  them  and  jumped  in  to  drink,  but  the  pans  were 
deep  and  the  sides  were  slippery  and  so  they 
perished. 


ALONE  IN  A  ROOM  FULL  OF  RATS  25 

Once  the  strained  honey  was  poured  out  on  a 
flat  stone  for  the  benefit  of  the  wild  bees,  because 
a  white-footed  mouse  had  gnawed  a  hole  through 
the  lead  covered  cork.  The  mouse  had  then  fallen 
into  the  honey  and  perished,  but  its  remains  were 
preserved  by  the  sweet  liquid. 

The  wood  mice  did  not  eat  our  fish,  but  they 
often  took  them  from  the  plate  in  the  cellar  and 
hid  them  where  they  could  not  be  found  until  our 
noses  told  the  secret  of  the  hiding  place.  The  lit- 
tle brownies  once  unwound  a  ball  of  twine  and 
draped  it  all  around  the  room,  making  a  half  hitch 
or  two  on  a  hunting  knife  and  a  pipe,  without 
dislodging  these  objects  from  their  insecure  perch 
on  the  narrow  edge  of  a  board.  They  also  took 
all  the  tacks  from  a  new  package  and  neatly  stowed 
them  away  in  the  egg  shells  kept  for  settling  the 
coffee. 

But  it  was  when  the  offspring  of  Fanny  Flying 
Squirrel  filled  the  house  that  the  real  trouble  be- 
gan. 

THE  MOTHER  SQUIRREL 

was  content  at  first  with  making  her  nest  from 
the  tufts  of  cotton  nibbled  from  the  mattresses. 
This  first  nest  she  made  over  the  bedroom  win- 
dow. Determined  to  evict  the  little  nuisance,  I 
climbed  on  top  of  a  kitchen  chair,  which  was  in- 
securely balanced  on  an  unsteady  washstand,  and 
looked  into  the  little  home. 

The  mother  squirrel  poked  up  her  pretty  head 
inquiringly  from  beneath  the  soft  nestling  material, 


26  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

and  when  I  gazed  into  the  soft  big  eyes  of  the 
little  animal,  all  the  annoyance  and  anger  in  my 
heart  melted  away.  The  chair  tilted  as  I  at- 
tempted to  descend,  and  I  came  down  with  a 
crash,  smashing  a  mirror,  spraining  my  wrist  and 
barking  both  shins,  but  I  left  Fanny  Flying  Squir- 
rel in  undisturbed  possession  of  her  claim. 

That  was  the  greatest  mistake  I  made  about  my 
log  house.  The  flying  squirrels  have  multiplied 
and  increased,  and  continued  to  increase  in  num- 
ber, in  spite  of  the  fact  that  each  year  I  capture 
as  many  as  I  can  and  send  them  away  to  friends 
in  different  parts  of  the  country  for  pets.  Flying 
squirrels  make  most  beautiful  pets,  but  they  are 
worse  in  a  house  than  the  so-called  Norway  brown 
rats.  Rats  can't  fly. 

One  season,  in  company  with  a  friend,  I  fished 
the  brooks  on  the  way  to  Wild  Lands.  My  friend 
said  he  would  clean  the  fish  if  I  would  be  cook. 
The  house  had  been  closed  all  winter  and  after 
opening  the  doors  and  windows  I  split  some  wood 
and  built  a  fire  and  then  ran  outside  to  breathe,  for 
the  smoke  filled  the  room.  My  friend  said  that 
the  chimney  was  cold.  He  said  as  soon  as  it  got 
wa.rm  the  smoke  would  go  up.  In  the  meantime 
the  smoke  refused  to  go  up,  but  filled  the  kitchen, 
and  when  that  was  full,  streamed  out  of  the  win- 
dows and  doors.  But  never  a  whiff  went  out  of 
the  chimney.  My  eyes  and  throat  smarted,  my 
lungs  were  raw,  tears  bedewed  my  cheeks.  I  was 
covered  with  ashes,  and  my  face  was  blackened; 


ALONE  IN  A  ROOM  FULL  OF  RATS 


27 


WILD  LANDS— THE  HOME  OF  FANNY  FLYING  SQUIRREL 

in  desperation  I  climbed  to  the  roof  and,  with  a 
long  pole,  felt  for  the  obstruction  in  the  chimney 
— there  was  none  there. 

After  building  a  dozen  fires  and  extinguishing 
them  again,  I  called  my  friend,  and  together  we 
took  down  the  stovepipe  and  found  that  the  space 
from  the  elbow  of  the  pipe  for  three  feet  was 

PACKED  WITH   FINE   CARDED  WOOL 

made  from  raveling  gnawed  from  the  dining  room 
rug.  In  this  warm,  smoke-proof  nest  we  found 
Fanny  Flying  Squirrel,  and  as  usual  there  was  a 
family  of  little  ones  with  her.  We  spared  the  old 
mother  and  nursing  babies,  dumping  them  care- 
fully into  a  cracker  box.  It  was  nine  o'clock  that 


28  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

night  when  two  hungry  men  at  last  sat  down  to  a 
feast  of  crackers  and  trout. 

Not  long  after  this  adventure,  the  log  house  at 
Wild  Lands  was  filled  with  a  merry  company  of 
city  people — people  with  all 

THE  CITY  FEAR  OF  SOLITUDE 

and  a  firm  belief  in  the  existence  of  terrible 
blood-sucking  bats,  long-toothed  venomous  ser- 
pents with  a  miraculous  power  of  charming  their 
intended  victims,  implacable  hoop  snakes  and 
poisonous  swifts. 

As  night  approached  the  fear  of  these  things 
crept  over  the  guests,  and  they  retired  to  their 
cots  trembling.  Through  the  chinks  they  could 
see  the  stars  twinkle  and  they  knew  that  a  hypnotic- 
ally inclined  snake  would  choose  just  such  an  open- 
ing through  which  to  reach  its  victims. 

Scarcely  had  the  visitors  closed  their  eyes  for 
slumber  when  some  live  thing  fell  with  a  sickening 
thud  on  the  chest  of  the  most  timid  guest;  it  is 
fortunate  her  heart  was  sound  or  it  would  have 
ceased  to  beat. 

Hardly  daring  to  breathe,  much  less  to  scream 
for  help,  the  frightened  urbanite  lay  quiet.  How 
heavy  the  serpent's  coil  seemed  to  be !  Gradually 
her  eyes  became  accustomed  to  the  darkness,  and 
then  she  saw  that  the  cause  of  her  fright  was  only 
pretty  Fanny  Flying  Squirrel  squatting  on  the  cov- 
erlet washing  her  face  with  her  little  hands. 


ALONE  IN  A  ROOM  FULL  OF  RATS          29 

Every  summer  evening,  after  the  sun  ball  has 
sunk  behind  the  hill  across  Big  Tink  Pond,  and 
the  hoot-owl  and  whippoorwill  have  begun  to  talk, 
a  shadow-like  object  is  seen  to  sail  from  the  apex 
of  the  roof  down  into  the  gloom ;  more  phantoms 
follow,  until  at  times  there  are  several  in  the  air 
at  once,  and  we  know  that  it  is  Fanny  Flying 
Squirrel  and  her  living  parachute  descendants  de- 
parting for  the  night  and  we  may  sleep  for  a  while 
in  peace. 

But  with 

THE  "WOLF'S  BRUSH," 

that  pale  gleam  of  light  which  precedes  the  dawn, 
on  the  eastern  horizon,  the  bright-eyed  little 
aeronauts  return  from  their  night's  frolic  and 
thump !  thump !  their  bodies  strike  the  shingles 
overhead  and  patter !  patter !  go  their  little  feet 
scampering  over  the  roof, 

Within  five  or  ten  minutes  from  the  first  thump 
heard  on  the  shingles  the  last  little  imp  has  re- 
turned, and  one  may  hear  them  in  all  the  gloomy, 
mysterious  corners  rustling  about  as  they  settle 
themselves  for  a  long  summer's  day  nap.  They 
wake  up  again  at  dusk  of  the  following  evening, 
when,  if  it  is  fair,  they  sally  forth,  but  on  rainy 
or  stormy  nights  they  do  not  go  out. 

An  ordinary  rat  trap  will  not  confine  a  flying 
squirrel,  for  so  flat  is  its  beautiful  little  body  that 
by  using  the  force  of  its  muscles  it  can  spread  the 
wires  apart  far  enough  to  escape.  I  always  use 
my  hand,  usually  protected  by  a  glove  or  some 


3o  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

similar  object,  and  catch  them  with  that.  I  caught 
nine,  in  that  way,  in  one  night. 

Sometimes  I  have  turned  down  the  bedclothes 
and  jumped  into  bed  to  alight  upon  a  bunch  of 
cracked  nut-shells,  acorns  and  seeds. 

A  recent  writer  in  a  popular  out-doors  magazine 
says  that  the  flying  squirrels  hibernate,  but  this 
very  winter,  with  the  mercury  at  times  fourteen 
degrees  below  zero,  the  flying  squirrels  were  lively 
as  crickets  in  my  log  house  and  their  tracks  could 
be  seen  in  the  deep  snow  on  the  roof,  where  they 
plumped  down  from  a  chestnut  tree  and  then 
scampered  to  the  opening  in  the  roof  by  the  chim- 
ney. A  few  years  ago  I  saw  a  flying  squirrel  hop- 
ping across  our  lawns  in  Flushing,  during  a  driv- 
ing sleet  and  snow  storm  and  afterward  found  its 
dead  body  in  a  hollow  shade  tree. 

One  summer  the  mistress  of  Wild  Lands  took 
on  one  of  those  spasmodic  fits  of  cleaning  peculiar 
to  her  sex,  and  seizing  a  pair  of  canvas  trousers 
she  and  the  maid  began  to  give  them  a  vigorous 
shaking.  The  blood  curdling  screams  which  fol- 
lowed brought  every  one  within  hearing  to  the 
spot,  and  they  saw  mistress  and  maid  facing  each 
other  and  doing  a  wild  fantastic  dance,  accompan- 
ied by  a  swinging  of  their  arms  and  ear-piercing 
shrieks. 

A  dozen  or  so  frightened  little  flying  squirrels 
were  scrambling  over  the  bodies  and  heads  of  the 
dancers  or  sailing  across  the  intervening  space 
from  maid  to  madam  and  from  madam  to  maid. 


ALONE  IN  A  ROOM  FULL  OF  RATS  31 

There  were  four  pockets  in  the  trousers  and  each 
pocket  contained  a  flying  squirrel  nest.  That  night 
the  maid  put 

PEPPER  AN  EIGHTH  OF  AN  INCH  DEEP  OVER  ALL 
THE   RUNWAYS 

frequented  by  the  squirrels,  but  the  only  effect  was 
to  make  the  little  imps  keep  us  awake  with  their 
high-keyed  sneezing. 

A  SNOW-WHITE  FLYING  SQUIRREL 

One  afternoon  while  sitting  on  my  front  piazza 
in  Flushing,  I  noticed  that  the  people  passing 
seemed  to  be  interested  in  some  object  on  one  of 
the  large  maple  trees  in  front  of  the  house.  At 
last  my  curiosity  was  so  much  excited  that  I  got  up 
and  went  out  on  the  street  to  investigate  and  dis- 
covered a  couple  of  flying  squirrels  scampering  up 
and  down  a  tree  trunk.  Flying  squirrels  are,  how- 
ever, too  common  among  the  shade  trees  of  old 
Flushing  to  cause  much  attention,  that  is,  ordinary, 
every-day  flying  squirrels,  but  while  one  of  these 
was  of  this  sort  the  other  was  as  white  as  the 
driven  snow,  and  had  pink  eyes.  The  two  squir- 
rels played  among  the  trees  all  that  afternoon 
from  about  five  o'clock  until  after  dark.  They 
would  sail  from  the  top  of  one  tree  diagonally 
across  the  street  to  the  trunk  of  another  tree,  run 
up  that  and  launch  themselves  into  the  air  for  a 
long  tobogganing  slide  down  that  thin  substance 


32  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

until  they  struck  another  tree  150  or  200  feet 
away.  I  ran  upstairs  and  got  a  landing  net  from 
my  fishing  tackle  outfit  and  attempted  to  capture 
the  beautiful  little  animal,  but  soon  discovered  that 
I  was  giving  it  a  fatal  notoriety,  for,  like  magic, 
small  boys  appeared  and  with  sticks  and  stones  and 
baseball  bats  engaged  in  the  chase.  As  soon  as 
I  realized  the  increasing  danger  I  put  up  my  land- 
ing net  and  calling  the  boys  over  to  the  house 
distracted  their  attention  by  showing  them  certain 
other  things  of  interest  to  boys.  In  the  meantime 
the  flying  squirrels  disappeared  in  the  shadows  of 
the  tree  top.  A  night  or  two  afterwards  a  man 
living  several  blocks  away  set  traps  in  an  old  oak 
tree,  a  very  old  oak  tree,  the  only  survivor  of  the 
group  which  shaded  the  Quaker  Fox  when  he 
preached  on  Long  Island.  The  next  morning 
the  man  found  the  albino  squirrel  in  his 
trap  and  taking  it  down  to  Manhattan  sold  it 
to  the  former  editor  of  Recreation.  The  animal 
was  placed  in  an  ordinary  squirrel  cage  near  by 
one  occupied  by  an  albino  fox  squirrel.  The  win- 
dows of  the  editorial  room  were  left  open  as  the 
weather  was  warm  and  in  the  morning  the  flying 
squirrel  had  made  its  escape.  What  was  the  final 
fate  of  the  beautiful  little  creature,  I  do  not  know, 
but  it  was  probably  killed  by  some  prowling  city 
cat. 


CHAPTER  III 


HAIRY-TAILED  PACK  RATS 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  NAME — THEY  LOVE  NOISE  AND  MISCHIEF,  EXCITE 

FEAR  AND  MURDER TRADE,  WOOD  AND  MOUNTAIN   RATS — 

JIM  THE  TRAPPER  AND  HIS  FOUR-FOOTED  FRIENDS — PRANKS 
OF  PACK  RATS — THE  LEGEND  OF  PADDY  PACK  RAT?S  TREAS- 
URE TROVE 

There  is  a  big  hairy-tailed  rat  to  be  found  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  which  is  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting little  animals  in  America.  Scientists  call  it 
a  Neotoma,  but  it  is  locally  known  as  the 

PACK   RAT, 

mountain  rat,  wood  rat,  and  trade  rat. 

To  explain  the  reason  for  this  first  name  to  the 
Eastern  readers,  it  is  necessary  to  call  their  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  in  a  new  and  unsettled  coun- 
try baggage  and  luggage  of  all  kinds  must  be  car- 
ried on  one's  own  shoulders,  or  on  the  backs  of 
animals.  Of  course  one  cannot  carry  things  on 
one's  back  without  making  them  into  some  sort  of  a 
bundle  or  pack,  hence  the  men  on  the  trail  who  at- 
tend to  loading  the  horses  and  mules  are  called 
packers,  while  the  animals  themselves  are  known 

33 


34  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

as  pack  animals,  from  this  it  is  an  easy  step  to 
substitute  the  word  pack  for  the  word  carry. 

Thirty  years  ago,  in  all  parts  of  Kentucky,  the 
word  pack  was  commonly  used  for  carry  and  the 
people  packed  their  bundles  and  baskets.  Even 
the  school  children  packed  their  books  to  school, 
the  pack  having  survived  from  the  time  when  Ken- 
tucky was  first  settled  and  when  household  goods 
and  personal  baggage  were  brought  into  the 
state  on  the  backs  of  men  and  animals.  The  word 
may  not  now  be  generally  used  in  this  sense  in 
Kentucky,  but  it  still  is  in  the  Rocky  mountains 
and  through  the  Southwest  and  Northwest. 
Wherever  the  hunter  or  prospector  is  found  the 
word  pack  is  used  in  the  place  of  carry,  hence, 

A  PACK  RAT  IS  A  RAT  THAT  CARRIES  THINGS. 

The  trappers  hate  these  little  animals  because 
of  their  mischievous  pranks  and  they  one  and  all 
kill  the  rats  at  every  opportunity.  I  could  fill  this 
book  with  the  wonderful  stories  that  are  told 
about  this  rodent.  One  trapper,  a  friend  of  mine 
named  Jim,  has  a  snug  little  shack  in  the  Cascade 
mountains,  and  Jim  confided  to  me  that  he  had 
not  killed  a  pack  rat  in  a  long  time. 

This  was  not  because  of  the  scarcity  of  pack  rats 
in  his  neighborhood,  for  every  night  they  pulled 
his  things  about  or  selecting  a  loose  spot  in  his 
roof  they  would  stamp  on  it  with  their  little  front 
feet  and  make  the  big  shingle  rattle  with  a  loud 
noise.  Next  to  packing  things  about,  if  there  is 


HAIRY-TAILED  PACK  RATS  35 


DEAD    PACK    RAT,    OUTLINE    TRACED    FROM    THE    ANIMAL, 
AND  LIVE  PACK  RAT  WITH  FEET  IN  A  TRAP 

anything  these  rats  do  love  better  than  their  own 
little  souls  it  is  to  make  as  much  noise  and  racket 
as  they  possibly  can;  still  Jim  the  trapper  would 
not  kill  the  rats.  When  Jim  found  his  boots  filled 
with  an  assortment  of  pebbles,  and  garbage  in- 
termingled with  the  buttons  from  his  clothes,  he 
would  say  things  which  should  never  be  repeated 
much  less  printed,  but  still  the  rats  lived  in  his 
shack  unharmed. 

This  conduct  on  Jim's  part  was  so  divergent 
from  the  character  of  the  man,  as  I  knew  him,  that 
it  needed  some  explanation.  I  do  not  mean  that 
it  was  at  all  unusual  for  him  to  use  strong  lan- 
guage when  the  spirit  moved  him;  but  I  do  mean 
that  it  was  very  queer  that  this  man,  who  spent 
his  life  killing  things, 


36  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

SHOULD  HESITATE  TO  KILL  VARMINTS  LIKE  PACK 
RATS. 

In  due  course  of  time  I  learned  from  the  trapper 
himself  the  reason  of  his  strange  forbearance.  It 
seems  that  the  winter  shut  down  on  the  moun- 
tains and  caught  Jim  the  trapper  short  of  a  supply 
of  tobacco.  There  was  a  party  of  government 
surveyors  camped  near  him  in  the  mountains  who 
kindly  gave  Jim  a  chew  of  tobacco  whenever  he 
asked  for  it,  but  they  refused  to  sell  or  give  him 
any  considerable  amount  of  the  weed  and  would 
not  under  any  circumstances  supply  him  for  his 
winter  needs.  The  surveyors  were  many  miles 
from  the  trading  post  and  only  had  enough  for 
their  own  use,  and  they  did  not  expect  to  visit  a 
post  before  spring  time. 

One  day  Jim  was  desperately  hungry  for  a  bite 
of  tobacco,  but  consoled  himself  with  the  thought 
that  as  soon  as  he  reached  camp  he  could  beg  a 
chew;  but  what  was  the  trapper's  dismay  upon 
arriving  home  to  find  that  the  topographical  men 
had  departed  during  his  absence,  for  parts  un- 
known. Several  days  had  passed  since  the  sur- 
veyors had  left,  during  which  time  Jim  had 
chewed  the  bark  from  numerous  sticks  of  red  wil- 
low, but  it  failed  to  satisfy  his  cravings  and  he 
was  growing  desperate.  He  had  about  made  up 
his  mind  to  take  the  long  solitary  tramp  necessary 
to  reach  the  trading  post,  but  before  doing  so  he 
thought  he  would  set  some  traps  in  the  bed  of  a 
stream.  To  protect  his  feet  from  the  cold  slush 


SKETCHES 


S  OF  PACK  RATS  MADE  AT  1,AKE  CHELAN,  WASH. 


37 


38  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

and  mud  he  took  down  a  pair  of  rubber  boots 
which  had  been  hanging  for  months  to  one  of  the 
rafters  over-head.  Jim  was  not  at  all  surprised 
upon  discovering  that  one  boot  was  unusually 
heavy — he  was  accustomed  to  have  the  pack  rats 
fill  his  boots  with  any  material  they  could  find — 
so  with  a  muttered  something  which  was  not  a 
prayer  he  dumped  the  contents  of  the  boot  on  the 
floor. 

The  sight  of  the  contents  of  the  boot  caused  the 
old  sinner  to  dance  around  the  shack  and  shout 
for  joy.  The  pack  rats  had  taken  all  the  sur- 
veyors' plug  tobacco  and  packed  it  neatly  away  in 
the  long  hip  boot,  giving  Jim  a  bountiful  supply 
of  his  dearly  beloved  weed  and  more  than  enough 
to  last  him  through  the  long  winter  months.  I 
do  not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  story,  but  from 
what  I  know  of  rats  it  does  not  seem  an  improb- 
able one.  They  will  steal  a  man's  box  of  pills, 
carry  them  to  a  neighboring  camp  and  leave  a 
dead  bird  in  their  place.  They  have  been  known 
to  carry  off  every  kind  of  small  article  to  be 
found  in  mountain  camps  and  cabins.  The  reason 
they  are  sometimes  called 

TRADE   RATS 

is  because  of  their  habit  of  leaving  something  in 
the  place  of  the  thing  they  take  away. 

A  great  many  stories  have  originated  from  this 
habit  of  the  pack  rat  and  many  writers  pretend 
to  believe  that  the  hairy-tailed  rats  are  really  bent 


HAIRY-TAILED  PACK  RATS  39 

upon  making  an  honest  trade,  but  of  course  this 
is  not  true,  the  rat  finds  some  object,  picks  it  up, 
and  starts  to  carry  it  away;  during  its  journey  it 
comes  across  some  other  object,  which,  for  some 
unknown  reason,  appeals  to  its  fancy,  so  it  simply 
drops  the  thing  it  has  and  takes  up  the  other  ob- 
ject and  thus  gets  the  reputation  of  being  too 
honest  to  steal,  and  of  making  an  attempt  to  pay 
for  everything  it  takes.  Here  are  a  few  reports  of 

PACK  RAT  PRANKS: 

A  paste  pot  was  left  over  night  in  the  assay 
office  of  the  Silver  Queen  Mine;  when  the  office 
was  opened  in  the  morning  the  paste  was  gone,  but 
the  pot  was  filled  with  a  number  of  articles, 
among  which  was  an  unbroken  glass  funnel,  the 
end  of  a  stick,  a  bit  of  rope,  some  scraps  of  wire, 
and  numerous  other  similar  articles.  The  pack 
rats  had  been  busy  that  night. 

A  man  who  was  building  a  shanty  in  Pueblo 
sent  to  Denver  for  a  keg  of  nails,  he  knocked  out 
the  head  of  the  keg  and  let  it  stand  over  night.  In 
the  morning  the  keg  was  filled  with  table  knives, 
spoons,  a  lot  of  pebbles,  fragments  of  a  buckskin 
glove,  a  set  of  false  teeth,  and  a  tin  saucer,  but 
there  was  not  a  nail  left  in  the  keg.  The  man  who 
lost  the  spoons  found  his  floor  strewn  with  nails; 
the  man  who  had  lost  the  buckskin  glove  found  in 
its  place  a  woolen  sock,  and  the  prospector  who 
left  his  false  teeth  in  a  cup  of  water  found  in  their 


40  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

place  a  cup  full  of  nails.  The  proprietor  of  the 
nail  keg  by  diligent  work  got  back  about  half  his 
original  supply  of  nails. 

This  all  sounds  very  funny  and  humorous,  but 
in  the  early  days  when  men  were  quick  with 
their  guns,  a  thief's  life  was  often  a  short 
one,  but  not  always  merry.  The  hills  were  full 
of  men  who  came  there  to  search  for  gold 
and  who  had  never  heard  of  or  seen  a  pack 
rat.  It  is  said  that  many  a  bloody  tragedy 
was  probably  caused  by  the  pack  rats  taking  things 
of  value  from  one  cabin  and  depositing  them  in 
another,  and  the  poor  victim  with  the  stolen  goods 
in  his  shack  was  given  no  time  for  explanation. 

Superstitious  people  have  been  so 

FRIGHTENED  BY  FOUR-FOOTED  MIDNIGHT 
MARAUDERS 

that  they  have  been  known  to  sell  valuable  claims 
for  trifling  amounts  in  order  that  they  might  make 
their  escape  from  the  uncanny  -neighborhood.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  know  how  much  of  our  old 
superstitions  and  beliefs  in  ghosts,  witches,  gnomes, 
and  fairies  could  be  traced  to  the  pranks  of  small 
animals.  But  the  prettiest  legend  that  I  ran  across 
in  the  West  is  the  one  that  I  heard  told  as  we  sat 
around  a  camp  fire  on  the  shores  of  the  Arrow 
lakes.  I  had  heard  references  to  it  in  many  parts 
of  the  West,  so  I  am  led  to  believe  that  there  is 
probably  a  foundation  of  truth  in  it.  I  will  tell 
it  to  you  as  I  remember  it. 


HAIRY-TAILED  PACK  RATS  41 

A   PACK  RAT'S   TREASURE   TROVE.      A   LEGEND  OF 
THE   LAKE   CHELAN   COUNTRY. 

Paddy,  the  pack  rat,  and  all  of  the  little  pink 
brothers  and  sisters  were  born  as  blind  as  art 
critics  and  as  bald  as  college  professors,  but,  un- 
like the  latter  individuals,  young  pack  rats  learn  to 
see,  in  time,  and  age  cures  their  baldness.  Not 
far  from  the  rats'  nest,  in  a  steep  bank  of  treach- 
erous slide  rock,  there  lived  a  rattlesnake,  dec- 
orated with  dark  stripes  and  spots,  the  skin  of  this 
same  snake  or  one  like  it  is  a  conspicuous  object  on 
my  study  wall,  but  its  markings  approach  so 
closely  to  the  color  of  the  sun-baked  stones  that 
a  live  rattler  of  this  kind  is  scarcely  distinguishable 
among  the  slide  rocks. 

How  it  happened  that  the  snake  ever  discovered 
the  rats'  nest  is  uncertain;  however,  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that,  dog  like,  it  used  its  nose  to  follow 
the  trail  of  the  mother  rat.  Even  such  devoted 
little  creatures  as 

MOTHER  PACK  RATS 

cannot  provide  against  all  accidents,  and  accidents 
sometimes  happen  to  their  helpless  offsprings. 
Oldtime  prospectors  and  trappers  do  say  that  pack 
rats  in  the  gold  mining  districts  of  Arizona  pro- 
tect their  nests  from  snakes  by  barricades  built  of 
prickly  cactus.*  That  this  plant  does  not  grow  in 


*It  is  possible  that  the  rats  do  carry  the  cactus  to  their  nests,  but  it  is 
>  more  than  probable  that  if  i1 
/atch,  nails  or  any  other  object 


also  more  than  probable  that  if  they  do  so  they   do   it    ES   they   would  a 
:h,  nails  or  any  other  object  without  any  idea  of  deferse. 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


HOUSE  IN  WHICH  THE  PACK  RAT  WAS  CAUGHT  IN  AN 
UNBAITED  TRAP 

the  Chelan  Mountains  near  Paddy's  home  may  ac- 
count for  the  ease  with  which  the  slide  rock  rattler 
inserted  its  body  into  the  cleft  in  the  cliff  where 
the  nest  was  located.  By  some  unexplained  acci- 
dent little  Paddy's  life  was  spared,  but  when  the 
mother  rat  returned  to  her  home  it  was  to  find  the 
graves  of  all  her  other  children  marked  by  an  egg- 
shaped  swelling  in  the  living  body  of  the  reptile, 
which  resembled  in  appearance  a  Christmas  stock- 
ing. 

The  most  relentless  and  bloodthirsty  foe  of  all 
wild  creatures  is  man  and  such  is  the  terror  usually 
inspired  in  their  hearts  by  the  presence  of  a  hu- 
man being,  that  it  is  seldom  we  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  witness 


HAIRY-TAILED  PACK  RATS  43 

THE  REAL  NATIVE  COURAGE 

of  our  wild  brothers  in  furs  and  feathers.  If  the 
old  mother  rat's  body  trembled  violently  and  her 
chisel-like  teeth  chattered  at  the  sight  of  the 
t  venomous  snake,  it  was  not  with  fear  but  rather 
with  righteous  wrath.  With  her  eyes  fixed  upon 
the  intruder  the  old  pack  rat's  body  seemed  to 
swell  to  abnormal  proportions.  She  swayed  slowly 
from  side  to  side  and  stamped  the  earth  menac- 
ingly with  her  little  hand-like  feet. 

I  have  often  witnessed  a  snake  strike  with  a 
rapidity  beyond  the  power  of  the  human  eye  to 
follow;  but  quicker  than  the  movement  of  the 
snake  wras  the  spring  which  transferred  the  mother 
rat  to  a  perch  on  the  squirming  body  of  the  rat- 
tler. All  in  vain  did  the  rasping  rattle  sound  its 
dry  vibrating  threat  of  death;  such  was  the  fury 
of  the  onslaught  that  the  rodent's  teeth  not  only 
severed  the  snake's  backbone,  but  the  reptile's 
head  was  stricken  from  its  writhing  body  with  the 
dispatch  and  skill  worthy  of  a  professional  heads- 
man. 

The  initial  motive  instinct  or  thought  still  con- 
trolled the  snake's  body  with  its  dire  purpose,  and 
devoid  of  head,  brains  or  weapons,  the  horrid 
thing  coiled  and  struck  the  rat  again  and  again 
with  the  bloody  stump  of  its  neck! 

Such  was  the  tragedy  which  left  little  Paddy 
sole  heir  to  the  horded  stores  of  its  parents.  When 
Paddy's  eyes  were  opened  he  viewed  with  satisfac- 
tion the  soft  hair  which  had  begun  to  grow  from 


44 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


HE  KILLED  PADDY  PACK  RAT'S  BROTHERS  AND  SISTERS 

the  tip  of  his  nose  to  the  end  of  his  tail.  Pack 
rats  have  tails  like  chipmunks,  as  you  may  see  by 
referring  to  the  illustrations,  a  peculiarity  ob- 
served by  Lewis  &  Clark's  men  on  July  2,  1804, 
when  they  found  the  first  one  of  these  animals  ever 
seen  by  civilized  man.  Comparatively  few  civi- 
lized men  have  seen  any  of  these  creatures  since 
1804,  for  the  reason  that  only  hunters  and  miners 
frequent  the  haunts  of  the  pack  rat  and  the  rodents 
themselves  seldom  venture  out  until  after  dark. 
The  illustration  on  page  37,  drawn  from  life, 
will  possibly  give  the  reader  a  better  idea  of  this 
animal's  appearance  than  a  printed  description. 

It  is  not  its  bushy  tail  alone  which  makes  the 
pack  rat  interesting,  for  its 


HAIRY-TAILED  PACK  RATS  45 

QUAINT  ECCENTRICITIES   OF   CHARACTER 

overshadow  the  peculiarity  of  its  appearance.  No 
sooner  does  a  camper,  prospector  or  trapper  erect 
his  tent,  shack  or  cabin  in  the  rat  country  than  the 
pack  rats  are  on  hand  eager  for  a  chance  to  trade, 
as  I  have  already  said;  not  only  do  they  exchange 
their  bric-a-brac  for  food,  but  any  portable  object 
has  a  value  to  them,  finger  rings,  pocket  knives, 
buttons,  revolvers,  iron  bolts,  pocket  compasses, 
cartridges,  watches  and  keys  are  irresistibly  tempt- 
ing to  pack  rats. 

As  the  summer  advanced  Paddy  moved  further 
up  the  mountain  side,  where  he  began  a  famous 
collection  of  curios.  About  this  time  it  was  noised 
about  in  ratdom  that  a  prospector's  cabin  had  been 
erected  near  Paddy's  new  home.  It  is  not  safe  to 
state  just  how 

THE   RATS   PASSED  THE   WORD 

around,  for  it  would  be  certain  to  be  contradicted 
by  my  good  friend,  John  Burroughs,  but  it  may 
be  stated  that  after  sunset  there  was  a  great 
rustling  among  the  dry  leaves  and  a  swaying  of 
the  fringed  gentians  and  Indian  paint  brushes, 
showing  that  the  little  mountain  folks  were  about 
that  night. 

The  next  night  it  was  very  evident  that  the 
word  had  been  passed.  Scarce  had  the  sun  set 
behind  the  snow-covered  peaks  before  the  little 
mountain  folks  assembled  to  break  the  dull 


46  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

monotony  of  the  lonely  prospector's  life.  There 
was  a  rat  from  Lake  Chelan  with  the  head  of  a 
ling  in  its  mouth;  there  was  a  rat  from  Railroad 
creek  with  a  half  plug  of  Battle  Axe  tobacco, 
another  from  the  Indian  settlement  with  a  bunch 
of  blue  beads,  a  rat  from  the  trapper's  cabin,  five 
miles  over  the  mountains,  with  a  Canadian  half 
dollar,  eager  for  trade. 

Rap,  rap,  rap!  went  their  front  feet  on  the 
loose  clapboard  over  the  prospector's  bunk,  but 
the  tired  man  only  mumbled  in  his  sleep  and  turned 
over  in  bed.  Rattle-te-bang  went  a  powder  can 
from  the  rafters  to  the  floor,  awakening  the 
sleeper,  who  reached  for  his  revolver,  but  seeing 
nothing,  turned  to  sleep  again. 

Next  morning  there  wras  plenty  to  see — fish 
heads,  chips,  bones  and  pine  cones,  etc.,  in  place 
of  his  knife,  fork,  spoon  and  tin  cup  which  he 
had  left  on  his  rude  table;  but  worst  of  all  was  the 
sight  of  the  battered  oil  can  in  which  he  had 
packed  his  cartridges.  No  ammunition  was  now 
visible,  but  in  its  place  was 

A  CAN  OF  DIRTY  LOOKING  PEBBLES. 

The  angry  man  kicked  over  the  can  and  as  he 
did  so  made  use  of  very  many  uncomplimentary 
remarks  concerning  rats. 

With  petulant  rage,  he  viciously  struck  the  of- 
fending objects  with  his  prospector's  pick.  As  the 
pebbles  flew  from  the  blow  the  man's  expression 
suddenly  changed;  he  dropped  the  pick,  and  for 


HAIRY-TAILED  PACK  RATS  47 

the  moment  seemed  to  fear  to  move,  then  he  sud- 
denly fell  upon  his  knees,  and  with  hands  which 
shook  with  excitement,  gathered  up  a  handful  of 
the  dirty  looking  pebbles  and  examined  them  at- 
tentively; after  which  he  gave  a  wild  warwhoop, 
sprang  to  the  door  and  fired  six  shots  at  the  un- 
offending sky. 

Paddy  witnessed  these  antics  with  the  utmost 
interest  and  astonishment,  and  his  curiosity  was  so 
great  that  he  crept  from  his  hiding,  place  to  the 
unoccupied  bunk  and  was  peering  cautiously  over 
its  side  when  he  found  the  man's  eyes  fixed  upon 
him.  The  man  laughed  a  wild,  naughty  laugh, 
which  sent  the  chills  down  Paddy's  back  and  took 
from  him  all  power  of  flight. 

When  last  seen  the  miner  and  the  rat  were 
inseparable  companions;  they  no  longer  lived 
at  the  edge  of  the  snow  fields  in  the  Cascade 
mountains;  a  wonderful  change  had  come  about, 
for  foolish  people  had  given  the  lonely  prospector 
houses,  lands,  cattle  and  horses  in  exchange  for  the 
dark-colored  pebbles  which  they  called  nuggets, 
but  Paddy  Pack  Rat  had  given  these  little  lumps 
of  gold  in  exchange  for  some  brass  cartridges,  and, 
strange  to  say,  neither  Paddy  nor  the  prospector 
ever  regretted  the  trade. 

IF  THERE   IS  ANY  ONE   WHO   CAN  TELL 

why  the  bower  bird  ornaments  its  playhouse  with 
bits  of  bright  ribbons,  broken  glass,  and  pretty 
pebbles ;  why  the  crow  and  magpie  devote  so  much 

i 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


PADDY  PACK  RAT'S  NEST  IN  AN  OLD  POWDER  CAN  INSIDE 
A  GOLD  MINE 

of  their  time  to  stealing  and  hiding  silver  thimbles, 
scarf  pins,  and  trinkets  of  all  kinds,  things  which 
they  cannot  eat  or  wear,  things  which,  as  far  as 
poor  human  intelligence  goes,  are  absolutely  useless 
to  the  birds,  as  useless  in  fact,  as  a  billionaire's 
billions  are  to  him;  if  any  one  can  tell  why  these 
birds  and  men  collect  these  useless  things,  they 
may  possibly  give  us  a  reason  for  the  pack  rats' 
eccentricities. 

One  pack  rat's  nest  found  in  an  empty  house 
was  built  of  heavy  iron  spikes,  mixed  up  with 
forks  and  spoons,  and  three  large  hunting  knives, 
this  was  not  all  that  was  in  the  pile,  for  there 
was  a  carving  fork  and  steel,  several  augers,  the 


HAIRY-TAILED  PACK  RATS  49 

parts  of  a  watch,  numerous  plugs  of  tobacco,  and 
minor  articles  too  numerous  to  mention,  making 
a  substantial  fort  if  not  a  soft  nest.  But  the  pack 
rat  is 

NOT  THE  ONLY  RODENT  WITH  MISCHIEVOUS 
HABITS. 

Ordinary  brown  house  rats  have  been  known 
to  build  a  nest  as  large  almost  as  a  bushel  basket 
composed  entirely  of  expensive  cigars,  and  in  Con- 
necticut the  muskrats  robbed  a  tobacco  plantation 
of  growing  plants  in  large  q.uanities.  In  an  old 
house  in  Pennsylvania  some  ten  years  ago,  a  rat's 
nest  was  found  containing  a  Mexican  dollar  of  the 
date  1774,  a  Mexican  quarter  of  the  date  1772, 
and  some  papers  of  1770.  A  rat  in  New  Jersey 
was  detected  in  the  act  of  carrying  away  a  thou- 
sand dollar  bill. 

One  rat's  bed  was  found  in  an  old  house.  The 
nest  was  composed  of  money  in  denominations 
from  $5  up  to  $1,000.  A  workman  in  tearing 
down  another  old  house  discovered  a  rat's  nest 
made  of  "butter  money"  issued  by  the  Bank  of 
Orange  County  at  Goshen,  some  time  before  the 
great  Civil  War.  The  nest  was  at  least  fifty  years 
old. 

But  in  these  cases  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  money  and  even  the  tobacco  and  cigars  were  of 
real  service  as  good  material  for  the  manufac- 
turing of  nests — all  except  the  Mexican  silver  dol- 
lar and  quarter  of  a  dollar,  these  must  have  been 


50  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

\ 

taken  by  the  house  rat  for  the  same  reason,  or  lack 
of  reason,  which  prompts  the  pack  rat  to  commit 
its  thefts.  In  this  last  case,  however,  it  was  not 
the  work  of  the  common  brown  rat,  for  back 

IN   1770  IT  WAS  THE  BLACK  RAT  WHICH  IN- 
FESTED OUR  HOUSES, 

a  rat  which  the  brown  rats  have  since  almost  ex- 
terminated. 

Even  mice  have  been  known  to  rob  a  till,  and 
the  Florida  rat  seems  to  have  precisely  the  same 
traits  as  the  pack  rat.  It  took  a  lot  of  Florida 
lats  only  six  nights  to  carry  two  bushels  of  shelled 
beans  thirty  feet  and  -replace  the  beans  with  the 
empty  seed  pods.  A  lady  in  Florida  was  dis- 
mayed to  find  a  number  of  seeds  in  the  place  of 
the  diamond  earrings  she  had  left  on  her  bureau, 
she  knew  where  the  seeds  came  from  and  there 
found  her  missing  ear-rings,  but  the  best  joke  was 
on  the  gambler  who  found  his  supply  of  poker 
chips  replaced  with  a  string  of  prayer  beads  and 
a  small  crucifix.  The  devout  priest  who  occupied 
the  next  room,  however,  was  greatly  shocked  to 
find  in  place  of  his  rosary  a  heap  of  sinful  poker 
chips. 

Strange  to  say  the  most  pestiferous  and  an- 
noying wild  things  often  make  the  most  delightful 
and  amusing  pets.  Mr.  Charles  Frederick  Holder 
once  owned  a  tame  pack  rat  which  was  allowed  the 
freedom  of  his  room  and  which  he  told  me  was 


HAIRY-TAILED  PACK  RATS  5! 

one  of  the  most  amusing  of  pets.  Unfortunately 
the  pack  rat  from  which  I  made  these  sketches  was 
so  injured  by  the  trap  that  I  had  it  killed  to  pre- 
vent it  from  useless  suffering.  But  this  is  a  story 
in  itself  and  I  will  tell  you  about  it  in  the  next 
chapter. 

Since  the  first  edition  of  this  book  was  printed 
the  author  has  been  thoughtless  enough,  on  two 
occasions,  to  gather  up  the  double  handful  of 
lint  and  fibers,  composing  the  white-footed  mouses' 
nest,  and  throw  it  in  the  open  fire.  On  both  occa- 
sions the  nests  contained  thirty-five  high-power 
Winchester  cartridges  which  were  not  discovered 
until  the  bombardment  of  exploding  ammunition 
began  and  sent  us  all  fleeing  from  the  room. 

Since  then  all  mice  nests  found  in  camp  are 
carefully  examined  before  being  burned. 


CHAPTER  IV 


JIM  THE  TRAPPER  OF  LAKE  CHELAN 

SKETCHING  A  MISCHIEVOUS  GNOME — NEEDLESS  CRUELTY  IN 
SPORT,  SCIENCE  AND  ART — VICIOUS  STEEL  TRAPS — HOW  p- 
FEELS  TO  BE  CAUGHT  IN  A  TRAP — A  MAN  IN  A  TRAP — HOW 
TO  FIX  A  STEEL  TRAP  WITH  PADS — CHARLES  DANA  GIBSON, 
THE  ARTIST,  AND  LANGDON  GIBSON,  THE  ARCTIC  EXPLORER, 
AS  NATURALISTS — A  SHORT-TAILED  MEADOW  MOUSE 
THAT  NEVER  MISSED  A  CHANCE — HABITS  OF  THE  MEADOW 
MOUSE — CATCHING  A  MUSKRAT  BY  THE  TAIL  WITH 
HAND — BIG  RATS  IN  CAMP — A  DANGEROUS  CAPTIVE 

In  the  last  chapter  the  Cascade  Mountains  were 
mentioned  as  the  place  where  the  particular  pack 
rat,  from  which  the  accompanying  studies  were 
made,  was  captured;  but  it  really  happened  in  a 
wing  of  the  Cascades,  known  as  the  Chelan  Moun- 
tains. 

This  range  is  split  in  twain  by  a  huge  crack  and 
between  the  two  halves,  at  the  bottom  of  the  crack, 
lies  Chelan  Lake,  a  long,  narrow,  deep  body  of 
water  with  steep  and  often  precipitous  sides  spring- 
ing up  from  the  water  and  forming  the  shore. 
Wherever  a  mountain  torrent  finds  its  way  to  the 
lake  it  makes  a  delta  at  its  mouth,  composed  of 

boulders  of  all  sizes.    These  deltas  form  the  only 

52 


JIM  THE  TRAPPER  OF  LAKE  CHELAN        53 

land  level  enough  for  the  purposes  of  a  camp  or 
house. 

It  was  in  such  a  place  that  a  trapper  had  built 
his  little  log  cabin,  a  photograph  of  which,  repro- 
duced on  page  42,  serves  as  an  illustration.  There 
is  perhaps  no  form  of  playground  and  romping- 
place  which  is  more  irresistible  to  a  pack  rat  than 
a  deserted  log  house,  so  when  I  asked 

JIM  THE  TRAPPER 

where  I  could  procure  a  live  specimen;  I  was  not 
surprised  when  he  pointed  .  out  the  little  log 
house  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Chelan,  at  the  same 
time  saying  that  he  would  himself  put  some  traps 
in  the  cabin  and  catch  a  rat  for  me. 

I  always  did  hate  steel  traps;  they  have  such  a 
vicious,  cruel  look  and  all  the  appearance  of  in- 
struments made  especially  for  torture.  I  asked  Jim 
if  he  could  not  set  a  box  trap,  but  he  only  laughed 
at  my  tenderfoot  ideas  and  said  he  would  get  me 
a  rat  all  right  and  would  not  hurt  him  either.  He 
set  some  unbaited  traps  in  the  old  fire-place  and  the 
second  morning  when  I  paddled  up  the  lake  to  the 
deserted  cabin  and  landed  among  the  boulders,  I 
could  hear  the  steel  trap  rattling  around  the  cabin. 

Upon  entering  the  little  hut,  I  saw  a  large  pack 
rat  hopping  backwards  and  dragging  the  trap  after 
him.  Taking  the  rat  and  trap  to  a  convenient 
place,  I  sat  down  to  make  a  water  color  sketch  of 
it.  About  this  time  Jim  the  Trapper  came  along 
and  detecting  a  look  of  pain  in  my  face  inquired 


54 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


with  much  solicitation  if  I  was  feeling  ill;  I  told 
him  that  it  was  not  I,  but  the  pack-rat,  that  was 
feeling  ill  and  while  I  was  exceedingly  anxious  to 
make  a  drawing  of  a  live  pack-rat,  I  could  not 
work  while  the  creature  was  suffering  so  much. 
Both  its  little  hands,  as  the  reader  may  see  by 


LITTLE   CHIEF 


the  photograph,  were  held  by  the  vice-like  jaws  of 
the  trap.  Jim  threw  back  his  head  and  laughed 
boisterously.  "Why,"  he  said,  "that  don't  hurt 
him  a  bit,  it  only  benumbs  his  paws  so  that  there 
is  no  more  feeling  in  them  than  there  is  in  your 
toes  when  your  foot's  asleep." 

But  half  convinced,  I  sat  down  and  made  care- 
ful drawings  of  the  poor  little  animal  after  which 
Jim  knocked  it  in  the  head  and  killed  it,  and  its 
distorted  skin,  upholstered  by  a  taxidermist,  now 
occupies  a  position  of  honor  along  with  another 


JIM  THE  TRAPPER  OF  LAKE  CHELAN        55 

unfortunate  of  the  same  species  on  the  top  of  the 
grandfather's  clock  in  the  corner  of  the  dining- 
room  adjoining  my  studio  where  I  am  working; 
but  I  have  not  yet  recovered  from  the  guilty  feel- 
ing I  had  while  sketching  that  poor  rat. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  needless 

CRUELTY  EXERCISED  IN  THE  NAME  OF  SPORT, 

more  in  the  name  of  science,  and  some  in  the  name 
of  art,  but  whatever  name  you  may  apply  to  the 
act  it  can  neither  lessen  the  pain  inflicted,-  nor 
modify  its  cruelty. 

HOW  IT  FEELS  TO  BE  CAUGHT  IN  A  TRAP 

After  a  trip  on  the  lake,  another  in  a  stage 
coach  and  an  exciting  one  by  steamer  down  the 
Columbia  River,  we  reached  the  railroad  at  We- 
natchee  and  took  the  train  going  East.  At  one 
of  the  stations,  where  we  stopped,  an  old  gentle- 
man came  aboard  and  as  soon  as  he  secured  a  seat 
he  threw  up  the  window  sash  and  stood  with  his 
hands  on  the  sill  smiling  at  his  family  of  grown- 
up daughters,  as  they  stood  on  the  platform  of  the 
railroad  station  ready  to  wave  him  an  adieu  with 
their  handkerchiefs. 

•  As  the  train  started,  the  car  gave  a  lurch  and 
down  came  the  window,  catching  the  old  man's 
fingers  on  the  sill.  A  half-dozen  of  us  rushed  to 
his  assistance;  we  struggled  and  sweat  and  pulled 
at  the  window  sash  in  vain,  the  old  gentleman's 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


CRUELTY  EXERCISED  IN  THE  NAME  OF  SPORT 

fingers  wedged  the  sash  so  tightly  that  it  was  im- 
movable. Thinking  of  the  pack  rat  I  turned  to 
ask  the  man  if  his  fingers  were  "numb,"  but  one 
look  at  his  white  face  and  agonized  expression,  told 
me  only  too  plainly  that  he  was  on  the  point  of 
fainting  from  extreme  pain.  All  this  time  the 
train  was  speeding  on  its  way. 

At  last  we  liberated  the  victim's  fingers  by  using 
some  walking  sticks  and  umbrellas  as  levers,  with 
which  we  pryed  up  the  sash.  When  he  was  released 
the  old  gentleman  would  have  fallen  had  I  not 
supported  him.  A  commercial  traveler  saved  him 
from  fainting  dead  away  by  giving  him  a  glass  of 
something  from  a  bottle;  as  it  was  he  suffered  so 
much  pain  that  he  got  out  at  the  next  station, 
where  we  left  him  holding  his  hands  over  his  head 


JIM  THE  TRAPPER  OF  LAKE  CHELAN        57 


'/-          #4 


\ 

PARTS  OF  A  JUMPING  MOUSE'S  ANATOMY 

l. — Left  hi  ~d  foot — natural  size.  3  — Left  hand. 

2.— Enlarged  hir.d  foot.  4.— Left  hand  enlarged. 

5. — Section  of  tail 

for  relief,  while  waiting  for  a  train  on  which  to 
return  home. 

After  this  experience  it  is  needless  to  say  that 
no  one  can  convince  me  that  a  steel  trap  does  not 
inflict  excruciating  pain  upon  the  unfortunate  ani- 
mal caught  by  its  steel  jaws. 

HOW  TO  TRAP  WITHOUT  INJURING  THE  TRAPPED. 
Since  then  I  learned  from  another  trapper  how 
to  bind  the  jaws  of  a  trap  with  rags  until  their  hard 
edges  are  transformed  into  comparatively  soft 
cushions.  A  trap,  treated  in  this  manner  will  hold 


58  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

the  leg  or  foot  of  a  small  animal  without  inflicting 
serious  injury  or  causing  an  undue  amount  of  suf- 
fering. Enough  of  this  painful  subject — I  am  glad 
to  say  that  there  are  other  ways  of  capturing  ani- 
mals for  study  or  for  pets,  and  that  the  pack-rat 
is  the  only  animal  shown  in  this  book  which  was 
captured  by  such  a  cruel  method. 

Charles  Dana  Gibson,  the  artist,  and  his  brother, 
Langdon  Gibson,  the  Arctic  explorer,  were  my 
companions  on  many  long  tramps  through  the 
fields,  woods,  swamps,  and  over  the  soft  meadows 
and  I  only  wish  that  I  could  remember  half  of  the 
interesting  things  we  saw  or  the  discoveries  we 
made.  Nothing  escaped  the  keen  eyes  of  these  two 
boys.  It  was  vain  for  the  wild  creatures  to  attempt 
to  conceal  their  whereabouts. 

We  knew  the  location  of  every  crow's  nest, 
where  the  red-tailed  hawk  built,  the  holes  in  which 
the  screech  owls  hid  and  the  grove  where  the  black 
crested  night  herons  reared  their  families  of  fiend- 
ish looking  offspring.  Sometimes  we  would  re- 
turn with  our  pockets  full  of  turtles  and  frogs, 
or  strange  and  interesting  insects,  or  plants.  At 
other  times  we  would  have  our  handkerchiefs  tied 
together  enclosing  in  their  folds  field  mice,  and 
other  living  creatures. 

A   SHORT-TAILED  MEADOW   MOUSE 

which  I  brought  home  from  one  of  these  excursions 
proved  to  be  a  very  savage  pet.  The  white-footed 
mouse's  cage  of  wire-netting  with  a  tin  bottom,  I 


L 


SKETCHES  OF  SHORT  TAIL  MEADOW  RAT,  FROM  LIFE 


60  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

arranged  for  the  new  comer.  In  the  bottom  I 
planted  green  sod  to  make  the  mouse's  home  as 
near  like  nature  as  possible  and  here  it  lived  con- 
tentedly for  many  months,  but  every  visitor  who 
carelessly  put  his  or  her  hand  against  the  cage 
withdrew  it  with  an  exclamation  of  pain  and  sur- 
prise, for  the  blunt  nosed  little  mouse  was  always 
on  the  lookout  for  an  opportunity  of  this  kind  and 
never  missed  a  chance  to  sink  its  teeth  into  the 
fingers  that  came  within  its  reach. 

A  YOUNG  MEADOW  MOUSE 

which  I  once  captured  proved,  however,  to 
be  a  very  gentle  little  creature  and  could  be  handled 
with  impunity.  In  captivity  these  little  animals 
make  their  nests  in  the  form  of  hollow  balls  of  the 
dried  grass  cut  down  by  them  while  eating  the 
roots.  Meadow  mice  are  given  to  migration,  as 
are  the  lemmings,  and  instances  of  such  occurrences 
are  mentioned  by  Homer,  Herodotus,  and  the 
Bible.  Armies  of  meadow  mice  are  not  unknown 
in  Europe.  They  have  appeared  at  Vienna  and 
many  parts  of  Germany,  and  they  have  been  re- 
corded as  visiting  many  different  parts  of  England 
at  intervals  from  1648  to  1867,  but  here  in  Ameri- 
ca they  seem  not  yet  to  have  adopted  the  migra- 
tion fad.  They  are  probably  content  with  the  dam- 
age they  can  do  near  home.  There  are  at  present 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  kinds  of  meadow 
mice  on  record  and  we  have  our  share  of  them, 


JIM  THE  TRAPPER  OF  LAKE  CHELAN        61 

America  being  represented  by  seventy-eight  species 
and  sub  species. 

Some  meadow  mice  live  in  the  dark  shade  of 
the  forest,  some  in  high  and  dry  places,  and  others 
make  their  runways  and  little  homes  of  dry  grass 
on  the  salt  meadows  subject  to  the  overflow  at 
every  high  tide.  Some  kinds  live  like  moles,  have 
long  galleries  under  the  ground  and  some  swim  and 
dive  in  a  manner  which  entitles  them  to  be  called 
aquatic,  but  they  all  bear  a  general  family  resem- 
blance to  each  other  and  the  one  in  the  illustration 
is  typical  of  the  family. 

MUSKRATS  WHEN  CAPTURED  YOUNG 

make  interesting  and  gentle  pets;  but  full  grown 
muskrats  are  too  savage  to  handle  with  safety. 
This  rule,  however,  is  true  of  most  animals,  al- 
though I  have  tamed  full  grown  gray  squirrels,  red 
squirrels,  flying  squirrels  and  chipmunks. 

The  last-named  animal  makes  a  gentle  little  pet 
and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  one  which  I  have 
kept  all  this  winter  did  not  hibernate,  although  it 
slept  late  on  very  cold  or  stormy  mornings,  but  on 
bright  days  it  would  sit  in  the  sun  and  chatter  and 
chortle  in  a  low,  self-satisfied,  comfortable  manner. 

A  few  years  ago  my  wife  and  I  were  in  camp 

AT  THE  HEAD  OF  FLATHEAD  LAKE. 

We  were  trout  fishing  and  I  had  climbed  over  a 
lot  of  whim  sticks,  which  is  Chinook  for  the  dry 


62  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

drift  wood  logs  piled  on  the  shore  by  the  torrents, 
to  a  point  of  vantage  where  a  tangle  of  these  whim 
sticks  extended  over  where  dark  waters  whirled  in 
a  spiral,  collecting  a  lot  of  suds  like  foam,  and 
keeping  it  twisting  around  in  the  center  of  a  minia- 
ture whirlpool.  It  is  in  just  such  places  big  trout 
love  to  lurk  and  I  was  intent  upon  casting  my  flies 
over  this  spot  when  a  low  whistle  from  my  wife 
signaled  me.  Looking  up  I  saw  that  she  was  point- 
ing to  some  object  under  the  edge  of  an  overhang- 
ing bank.  Noiselessly  clambering  back  over  the 
smooth  logs  and  cautiously  approaching,  I  peered 
over  the  edge  of  the  bank,  and  with  some  difficulty 
discovered  the 

TIP  OF  A  TAIL. 

I  felt  assured  that  there  must  be  some  sort  of  an 
animal  hitched  to  the  other  end  of  it,  and  so  climb- 
ing down  the  bank  and  cautiously  removing  drift 
wood  and  rubbish,  I  rolled  up  my  sleeves,  got  down 
on  my  knees  and  quietly  slipped  my  hand  close  to 
the  place  where  the  root  of  the  tail  should  be.  I 
was  not  at  all  surprised  upon  pulling  the  animal 
out  of  its  hole  to  discover  that  I  had 

CAPTURED  A  MUSKRAT. 

Oh,  me,  oh,  my!  what  a  big  one  it  was!  and  how 
vicious!  It  appeared  to  be  almost  as  large  as  a 
beaver,  and  was  very  heavy.  It  was,  in  fact,  the 
largest  muskrat  I  had  ever  seen.  I  started  for 
camp  with  Mr.  Rat,  for  the  very  good  reason 


JIM  THE  TRAPPER  OF  LAKE  CHELAN        63 


JUMPING  MOUSE   (LIFE  SIZE)  TAKEN  FROM  INSIDE  OF  A 
RATTLE  SNAKE 


that  I  did  not  know  how  to  let  go  of  it.  Not  only 
did  I  have  to  hold  the  animal  away  from  my  legs 
to  prevent  it  biting  me,  but  also  had  to  be  con- 
stantly on  the  alert  to  frustrate  its  efforts  to  double 
up  and  catch  me  by  the  wrist  with  its  long  yellow 
teeth.  The  rat  would  attempt  to  do  this  by  swing- 
ing its  body  in  such  a  way  as  to  gather  momentum 
and  at  the  same  time  imparting  to  it  a  twisting 
motion  that  would  most  certainly  have  enabled  it 
to  swing  up  and  reach  my  hand  if  I  had  not  per- 
sistently twisted  it  in  the  opposite  direction,  thus 
unwinding  the  animal,  so  to  speak. 


64  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

I  had  discovered  that  it  is  one  thing  to  catch 
a  wild  animal  by  the  tail  and  it  is  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent proposition  to  let  go  of  him  again.  When 
I  reached  camp  the  rest  of  our  party  were  inside 
their  tents.  Audubon  says  that  muskrats  may  be 
handled  with  safety,  but  I  would  not  advise  my 
readers  to  trust  them. 

Some  previous  campers  had  brought  some  straw 
upon  which  to  sleep  and  had  left  it  in  a  heap  where 
their  tent  had  been  pitched.  This  offered  me  a 
means  of  getting  rid  of  my 

SOMEWHAT  DANGEROUS  CAPTIVE, 

so  I  held  the  rat  down  until  its  front  paws  reached 
the  straw  and  was  glad  to  see  that  it  immediately 
made  an  effort  to  crawl  into  the  old  bedding  to 
hide.  As  soon  as  I  was  sure  of  its  purpose,  I  care- 
fully let  go  of  the  tail,  jerked  away  my  hand,  and 
the  rat  immediately  disappeared  under  the  straw. 

I  stood  for  some  time  rubbing  my  tired  arm,  for 
I  had  carried  the  rat  a  considerable  distance.  Then 
I  called  to  the  other  campers  and  as  they  came  out 
of  their  tents,  I  told  them  that  I  wanted  to  break 
camp,  that  I  did  not  like  the  place  at  all,  that  it 
was  infested  with  rats. 

"Rats!"  they  exclaimed.  "Why  there  are  no 
rats  here." 

The  heap  of  straw  was  directly  in  front  of  my 
own  tent  which  was  located  on  a  high  bank  over- 
looking the  Swan  River;  the  campers  were  all 
standing  around  the  straw.  I  told  them  that  I  did 


JIM  THE  TRAPPER  OF  LAKE  CHELAN    65 

not  know  what  they  might  call  the  animals,  but 
I  called  them  rats. 

"Where  are  the  rats?"  they  inquired. 

"Everywhere,"  I  replied. 

"Show  us  one,"  laughed  one  of  the  ladies. 

"Why,"  I  exclaimed,  "there  are  probably  some- 
in  your  tent  now." 

"Mercy!"  cried  the  ladies  in  alarm. 

"Oh,  he  is  crazy,"  whispered  a  small  boy. 

"Come,  Mr.  Beard,"  said  one  of  the  gentlemen, 
kindly  taking  me  by  the  arm,  "you  have  been 
dreaming,  show  us  a  rat." 

"Well,"  I  replied,  looking  thoughtfully  around, 
"likely  as  not  there  are  some  in  this  straw."  With 
that  I  kicked  the  straw  away  and  out  jumped  the 
frightened  muskrat. 

There  were  screams  from  the  ladies,  some  ex- 
plosive remarks  from  the  men,  and  the  place  was 
incontinently  deserted. 

In  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it  the  rat  went 
over  the  edge  of  the  bluff,  scrambled  and  rolled 
down  the  bank,  splashed  into  the  water  and  swam 
away.  But  the  campers  had  shown  more  speed 
than  the  muskrat  in  making  an  escape. 

Picking  up  my  trout  rod,  I  went  back  to  the  river 
to  get  the  big  trout  I  knew  must  be  lurking  in  the 
whirlpool  amid  the  tangled  heap  of  "whim  sticks." 


CHAPTER  V. 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD 


GNAWERS       GOOD      FOR       FOOD  —  BEAVER       TAILS RAT      STEW  — 

DORMICE  HASH — POPPY  SEED  AND  HONEY — BOILED  POR- 
CUPINE— THE  INDIAN  METHOD  OF  COOKING  PORCUPINE — 
THE  RULE  OF  THE  WILDERNESS — THE  SIN  OF  THE  SIN-YALE- 
A-MIN  PORCUPINE  QUILL — THE  TAIL  IS  MOST  SAVORY — 
CUDJO  THE  GRAY  SQUIRREL — ROBIN  THE  RED  SQUIRREL — 
A  DRUNKEN  RED  SQUIRREL  AND  HOW  IT  ACTED — THE  RED 

SQUIRREL    TAMED BLOODY      MINDED      CHIPMUNKS — LIVE 

MICE — SNAKES  AND  YOUNG  BIRDS  AS  CHIPMUNK  FOOD — 
THE  CHIPMUNK  AT  WHIPPORWILL  COTTAGE — THE  WHITE 
FOOTED  MOUSE  AND  THE  SNAKE. 

All  evidence  seems  to  point  to  the  fact  that  the 
whole  tribe  of  gnawers  can  change  from  their  ac- 
customed diet  to  a  new  one 
without  suffering  any  great 
inconvenience,  or  injury  to 
their  health.  This  may  not 
be  true  of  the  beaver,  I  have 
never  experimented  with 
this  big  flat-tail  rat  and  have 
no  data  upon  which  to  base 
a  positive  opinion.  But 
there  have  been  so  many 
exaggerated  stories  in  which 

66 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD    67 

the  writers  have  allowed  their  imagination  to  run 
riot  regarding  the  habits  of  the  beaver,  that  I  think 
I  might  say  that  this  animal  fed  upon  roast  beef 
and  pudding  without  exciting  much  surprise. 

But  if  the  information  is  incomplete  regarding 
what  rodents  eat,  we  all  know  that  they  themselves 
are  not  a  bad  article  of  food.  Beavers'  tail  is  a 
historic  delicacy  of  the  backwoods. 

MUSKRATS 

are  regularly  served  at  the  table  in  some  parts  of 
this  country,  and  not  unknown  in  New  York  City, 
while  squirrels  and  chipmunks  have  been  looked 
upon  as  delicate  articles  of  food  ever  since  this 
country  was  settled. 

I  have  been  told  by  two  gentlemen  who  lived  in 
a  certain  rural  district  in  England  that  it  has  been 
the  custom  from  time  immemorial  in  that  particular 
place  to 

DINE  ANNUALLY  ON  RATS ; 

but  both  men  were  very  careful  to  explain  that 
they  did  not  eat  "house"  rats,  using  only  those 
which  were  trapped  in  the  granaries  and  hence  not 
garbage  fed;  "granary"  rats  they  declared  to  be 
clean  animals. 

As  far  back  as  the  time  of  the  Caesars,  a  Mr. 
Bambonselvergius  (the  man  who  is  credited  with 
inventing  sausages),  wrote  a  treatise  in  a  very 
learned  manner,  telling  how  to  fatten  dormice  for 
the  table.  In  those  days  they  had  dormouse 


68  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

fricassee,  dormouse  on  toast,  dormouse  soup  and 
dormouse  hash,  and  dormouse  served  with  a  sauce 
made  of  a  mixture  of  poppy  seed  and  honey. 
In  the  North  Woods 

THE  INDIANS  EAT  PORCUPINE, 

boiled  porcupine  occupying  the  place  of  Thanks- 
giving turkey  among  the  Northern  Indians.  I 

have  never  eaten  porcu- 
pine and  the  one  I  pre- 
pared for  cooking  was 
left  at  Sin- Yale- A-M in 
Lake  in  the  Mission 
Mountains  when  we 
broke  camp  to  hit  the 
trail  for  McDonald 
Lake.  I  am  told  by  Mr. 
Belmore  Browne,  the 
artist,  hunter  and  wilderness  man,  that  this  ani- 
mal should  be  boiled  in  not  less  than  two  or  three 
waters  or  it  will  be  too  strong  for  white  man's 
taste.  If  the  reader  should  want  to  know 

HOW  TO  COOK  A  PORCUPINE 

he  can  learn  from  the  Indians  by  watching  them 
as  they  prepare  a  porcupine  for  the  table,  but  for 
fear  that  all  my  readers  will  not  have  this  oppor- 
tunity or  like  ulnjun"  cooking,  it  may  be  well  to 
say  that  the  first  thing  to  do  is  to  suspend  the 
animal  over  a  blazing  fire,  or  throw  it  bodily  into 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD     69 

the  fire  and  turn  it  over  with  a  stick  until  the  quills 
are  thoroughly  singed;  then  roll  it  in  the  grass  to 
brush  off  the  burnt  quills. 

With  a  short  knife  slit  the  skin  up  the  middle 
of  the  belly  from  the  tail  to  the  throat,  peel  off  the 
pelt,  cutting  off  the  feet  as  you  come  to  them.  It 
is 

THE  RULE  OF  THE  WILDERNESS 

to  always  burn  porcupine  skins,  but  scientists  do 
not  always  follow  this  rule  and  tenderfeet  do  not 
know  of  its  existence.  Professor  Elrod,  of  the 
biologicaj  surveying  party,  carefully  preserved  the 
skin  of  the  porcupine  killed  at  Sin-Yale- A-M in 
Lake  so  that  it  might  be  stuffed  and  mounted  for 
the  university  museum.  During  the  process  of  pre- 
serving the  skin  a  number  of  the  spines  became 
detached  and  lay  around  upon  the  ground  where 
we  were  accustomed  to  sit  when  we  gathered  for 
songs  at  the  evening  camp-fire. 

After  this  occurrence,  I  spent  six  weeks  in  camp, 
and  during  all  that  time  I  wore  the  same  hunting 
suit,  only  changing  it  for  "store"  clpthes  when  I 
came  East.  When  the  trout  season  opened  the  next 
year  I  put  on  my  same  old  camping  clothes  and 
went  out  to  fish  in  a  brook  in  Pike  County,  Penn- 
sylvania. At  noon  time  I  selected  a  mossy  stone 
upon  which  I  might  sit  while  I  ate  my  lunch.  Pike 
County  is  infested  with  rattle-snakes,  so  I  looked 
carefully  around  before  taking  my  seat  and  al- 
though I  saw  nothing  suspicious,  I  sprang  from 
that  stone  with  a  yell,  under  the  firm  belief  that  I 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


This 


spine 


had 


had  seated  myself  on  a  snake  and  had  been  struck 
by  its  poisonous  fangs;  upon  putting  my  hand  to 
the  wound  I  found  there  a  quill  of  the  Sin-Yale-A- 
Min  porcupine! 

remained  hidden  in  my 
trousers  during  the 
whole  time  I  spent  in 
camp,  only  to  reveal  its 
savage  purpose  a  year 
afterwards  in  a  part  of 
Pennsylvania  which  is 
free  from  porcupines 
and  two  thousa-nd  miles 
away  from  Sin-Yale-A- 
Min  Lake. 

THE  PORCUPINE  MAY  BE  BOILED  OR  ROASTED. 

The  latter  is  done  by  suspending  the  animal  by  its 
forelegs  and  roasting  it  over  a  bed  of  hot  coals. 
When  properly  cooked  its  meat  is  said  to  be  as  de- 
licious as  any  that  can  be  found  in  the  wilderness, 
and 

THE  TAIL,  IN  PARTICULAR,  IS  MOST  SAVORY, 

is  very  meaty,  and,  like  beef  tongue,  the  meat  is 
full  of  fine  bits  of  fat.  Split  the  tail,  take  out  the 
bone,  and  roast  the  meat  over  the  hot  embers. 
Cooked  in  this  manner  it  is  known  by  the  suggestive 
name  of  Yum-Yum. 

But  enough  of  this,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  fill 
a  book  with  accounts  of  dead  animals  or  of  cook- 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD    71 

ing  recipes.  One  live  animal  is  more  interesting  to 
us,  and  of  more  real  value  to  humanity  than  a 
carload  of  dead  ones.  We  have  abundance  of  do- 
mestic animals  to  supply  us  with  meat,  and  it  seems 
outrageous  that  beautiful  little  creatures,  like  the 
gray  squirrels,  for  instance,  should  be  killed  to  sup- 
ply our  table.  I  once  owned 

A  GRAY  SQUIRREL  NAMED  CUDJO. 

It  was  during  the  war  time,  my  room  was  in 
the  third  story  of  a  brick  house,  and,  like  the  pack 
rat,  I  filled  my  nest  with  all  manner  of  useless 
things.  The  walls  were  decorated  with  the  junk 
from  the  camps  and  at  one  end  of  the  room  hung 
a  pair  of  glazed  leather  boots.  They  were  broad- 
toed,  after  the  fashion  of  the  day,  they  had  big 
bulging  calves  to  allow  room  for  the  baggy  trousers 
which  were  then  in  fashion,  the  boots  were  cut 
away  under  the  knees  to  allow  free  play  of  the 
man's  joints,  in  front  they,  extended  up  above  and 
protected  the  knee  by  rounded  tips. 

They  were  in  fact  full  dress  officers'  military 
boots  of  the  war  of  '61.  One  of  these  boots  was 
selected  by  Cudjo  for  his  home  and  down  in  the 
foot  of  it  he  slept  during  the  night. 

He  spent  the  days  in  romping  around  the  room 
or  sitting  in  the  window  with  one  foot  on  the  sash 
and  the  other  curled  up  under  his  body  while  he 
watched,  with  evident  interest,  the  boys  at  play,  or 
the  passing  of  regiments  of  soldiers  and  the  six- 
mule  team  government  wagons,  but  whenever  a 


72  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

dog  ran  by,  the  squirrel  became  very  much  excited 
and  kept  up  a  continuous  scolding  as  long  as  his 
enemy  remained  in  sight.  The  scolding  consisted 
of  a  continued  repetition  of  its  own  name,  Cudjo! 
Cudjo !  Cudjo ! 

It  has  always  been  my  habit  to  rise  early,  but  as 
a  regular  custom  I  awakened  earlier  while 

CUDJO  AND  I 

occupied  the  same  room,  than  I  hav  before,  or 
since.  This  was  because  Cudjo  himself  was  a  very 
early  riser.  How  he  knew  when  daylight  came 
while  he  was  down  in  the  dark  toe  of 
that  boot,  in  the  dark  end  of  the  room,  is 
a  mystery  still  unsolved.  With  the  first  light  upon 
the  eastern  horizon  Cudjo  would  awaken,  and, 
climbing  to  the  top  of  the  boot  leg  he  would  poise 
himself  on  the  edge  of  the  leather,  give  a  mighty 
spring  and  alight  upon  my  chest  with  a  resounding 
thump. 

Cudjo  knew  me  to  be  a  kind  master,  a  boy  with 
a  gentle,  even  temper,  but  he  had  also  learned  that 
it  is  not  always  safe  to  awaken  suddenly  even  a 
good-natured  boy  by  jumping  with  all  four  feet 
on  his  chest,  so,  no  sooner  did  he  knock  my  breath 
from  my  body  than  he  was  instantly  off  again, 
and  while  I  lay  in  bed  and  said  things,  Cudjo  the 
squirrel,  from  a  safe  distance  on  the  mantle-piece 
or  the  top  closet  shelf,  would  sit  and  chatter  back 
volubly  in  squirrel  language. 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD    73 

There  can  be  no  mistake  regarding  the  object 
of  the  squirrel's  thump  on  my  chest.  Cudjo  meant 
to  awaken  me  and  in  this  he  never  failed.  If  my 
chest  happened  to  be  an  inconvenient  place  for  him 
to  land,  he  had  no  hestitancy  in  landing  on  my 
head.  After  being  once  awakened,  if  I  fell  asleep 
again  the  squirrel  would  climb  back  to  the  boot 
and  make  another  jump  and  he  would  repeat  this 
operation  until  he  compelled  me  to  get  up.  As 
soon  as  I  arose  Cudjo  would  begin  to  romp  around 
the  room,  run  up  my  leg,  sit  on  my  shoulder,  and 
in  every  way  express  his  joy  in  a  manner  as  un- 
mistakable as  that  of  a  dog  when  wagging  its  tail. 

Cudjo  was  very  considerate  in  some  things,  and 
unlike  most  rodent  pets,  he  refrained  from  gnaw- 
ing the  boots,  furniture,  or  woodwork  in  the  room. 
But  he  did  delight  in  creeping  down  between  the 
sheets  and  hiding  a  lot  of  walnuts  and  hickory  nuts 
there.  It  was  my  habit  as  a  boy,  when  retiring  for 
the  night,  to  undress  as  hastily  as  possible,  throw 
my  clothes  on  a  chair,  put  out  the  light,  then  in  the 
dark  hastily  pull  down  the  bed  clothes  and  with  one 
bound  alight  in  the  middle  of  the  lower  sheet. 

Cudjo  would  place  the  heap  of  nuts  just  where 
I  would  strike  them  when  springing  into  bed. 
This,  to  my  boyish  fancy,  he  did  purposely,  though 
of  course  the  position  of  the  nuts  was  entirely  ac- 
cidental. 

The  sensation  caused  by  sitting  down  very  hard 
on  rough  shelled  walnuts  and  pointed  nose  hickory 
nuts,  when  one  is  in  one's  thin  night-clothes,  is 


74  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

such  as  to  cause  unpremeditated  and  ungrammatical 
remarks.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  be  able  to  say, 
however,  that  I  was  a  moral  and  clean-minded  boy 
and  did  not  use  "swear"  words  on  any  occasion, 
but  I  am  afraid  the  emphasis  with  which  I  made 
my  simple  statements  and  expressions  of  feeling 
sounded  to  the  squirrel  much  the  same  as  real  bad 
"cuss"  words  would,  because  even  though  he 
could  not  understand  my  language,  he  did  under- 
stand the  meaning  conveyed  by  the  tone  of  my 
voice — and  he  seemed  to  enjoy  my  irritation. 

But  this  was  probably  imagination.  Cudjo  was 
never  savage  or  ill  natured,  and  although  he  would 
not  allow  me  to  take  hold  of  him  with  my  hands, 
he  would  sit  on  my  hand,  wrist,  or  shoulder,  climb 
into  my  pockets  in  search  of  peanuts  without  the 
slightest  fear,  nor  would  he  resent  it  if  I  stroked 
his  back.  In  this  particular  he  was  unlike 

ROBIN  THE  RED  SQUIRREL 

before  he  took  to  drink.  Robin  was  caught  in  a 
box  trap  set  in  a  swail,  where  the  high  ferns  grew 
and  the  yellow  moccasin  flowers  and  baneberries 
bloomed,  on  the  shores  of  Big  Tink  Lake.  Robin 
proved  to  be  a  veritable  savage,  he  was  as  ferocious 
as  a  diminutive  tiger  might  be.  He  would  spring 
at  the  bars  of  his  cage  and  savagely  bite  the 
wires  whenever  any  one  approached  him.  We 
kept  him  for  several  weeks  and  although  he  ate 
what  food  we  gave  him,  we  had  to  be  constantly 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD    75 

on  guard  to  prevent  him  from  biting  our  fingers 
while  we  were  placing  the  food  in  his  cage. 

One  day  all  of  us  got  in  a  wagon  to  drive 
to  the  nearest  market  town,  and  left  Robin 
to  watch  the  house.  When  we  returned  it  was 
dark  and  rainy,  Robin  was  forgotten  and  the  poor 
fellow's  cage  hung  all  night  exposed  to  the  cold 
drizzling  rain.  In  the  morning  we  thought  he  was 
dead,  but  upon  removing  his  wet,  dank  and  chilled 
body  from  the  cage  we  discovered  a  slight  move- 
ment of  his  hind  foot,  and  immediately  hunted  up 
some  pieces  of  warm  flannel,  rolled  him  up  in  the 
cloth  and  placed  him  in  the  oven  of  the  stove;  tak- 
ing precaution  to  leave  the  oven  door  open  so  that 
we  could  watch  and  see  that  poor  Robin  was  not 
baked  alive. 

In  a  little  while  our  patient  began  to  move,  twist 
and  kick,  at  length  he  kicked  the  covers  off,  then 
the  cook  removed  him  from  the  oven  and  going 
to  the  closet,  filled  a  spoon  with  a  mixture  of  "cook- 
ing" sherry  and  milk,  which  she  administered  to 
Robin  with  the  belief  that  the  wine  would  warm 
him  up  inside  and  set  him  on  his  feet  again;  but 
it  set  him  on  every  part  of  his  body  except  his 
feet. 

As  the  fumes  of  the  liquor  ascended  to  his 
wicked  little  brain,  Robin  began  to  make  a  disgrace- 
ful exhibition  of  himself.  It  was  plain  to  see  that 
he  was  drunk,  outrageously,  hilariously  drunk!  He 
jumped  up  in  the  air  and  alighted  on  the  top  of 
his  head,  he  stood  on  his  hind  legs  and  whirled 


76  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

around,  he  ran  through  the  hot  ashes  in  the  open 
fireplace  of  the  dining-room,  he  jumped  hurdles, 
and  at  last  catching  sight  of  the  cook,  ran  up  the 
outside  of  her  dress  and  before  she  was  aware  of 
his  intentions,  sunk  his  chisel-like  teeth  through  the 
nail  of  her  thumb,  biting  into  the  bone. 

This  was  going  too  far  even  for  a  drunken 
rodent,  so  the  squirrel  was  grasped  roughly  by  the 
nape  of  his  neck  and  thrust  back  into  his  cage, 
where  he  curled  up  and  slept  off  the  effects  of  his 
too  generous  libations. 

Then  a  wonderful  thing  happened,  Robin  the 
savage,  Robin  the  ill-natured,  from  that  time  be- 
came one  of  the  most  gentle  and  lovable  of  little 
pets  which  I  have  ever  possessed.  It  may  have 
been  that  he  was  shamed  into  gentleness  by  the 
memory  of  his  disgraceful  behavior,  or  it  may  have 
been  that  he  felt  grateful  for  the  care  he  received 
after  his  soaking  in  the  rain,  or  it  may  be  that 
the  strong  drink  rearranged  the  gray  matter  in 
his  little  brain,  destroyed  the  wicked  thoughts  and 
developed  the  good  ones.  But  whatever  the  reason, 
Robin  had  a  change  of  heart.  At  the  end  of  the 
season,  when  the  reformed  red  squirrel  was  given 
his  freedom,  he  seemed  to  leave  us  with  real  regret, 
and,  as  if  reluctant  to  part  with  his  human  friends, 
he  several  times  returned  to  his  cage  at  the  log 
house  before  finally  disappearing  with  a  whisk  of 
his  tail  down  in  the  swail  where  he  was  first 
caught. 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD    77 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  advocate  intemperance 
as  a  means  of  grace  on  the  part  of  one's  pets,  nor 
do  I  say  that  the  wild  orgy  indulged  in  by  Robin 
was  the  cause  of  his  regeneration.  I  only  tell  the 
incident  as  it  happened  and  leave  the  reader  to 
draw  his  own  conclusions  as  to  the  advisability  of 
high  license,  prohibition,  local  option  or  free  rum 
for  red  squirrels. 

RED  SQUIRRELS  KILL  PIGEONS. 

Since  writing  the  above  I  have  made  a  visit  to 
Litchfield,  Connecticut,  where  the  red  squirrels  are 
very  abundant;  while  there  I  met  Mr.  James  New- 
ton Gunn,  who  has  a  summer  home  and  keeps 
pigeons  at  this  charming  old  town.  When  he  visited 
his  summer  place  during  the  winter  he  found  with 
dismay  that  some  creature  was  devouring  his  pets. 
He  supposed,  of  course,  that  the  ravages  in  his 
dove-cot  were  committed  by  rats;  but  resolving  to 
investigate  the  matter  thoroughly,  he  arose  early 
one  morning  and  crept  very  quietly  up  to  the 
pigeon  loft  and  peering  in,  he  saw  a  red  squirrel 
in  the  very  act  of  killing  one  of  his  pigeons. 

The  peculiar  and  interesting  part  about  this  is, 
that  the  squirrels  only  ate  the  heads  of  the  birds, 
and  then  making  a  hole  in  the  pigeons'  breasts, 
devoured  the  contents  of  the  crops.  As  far  as  I 
know,  this  is  a  new  record  of  the  predaceous  habits 
of  the  red  squirrel  and  a  novel  way  to  procure 
grain. 


78  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

As  for  these  animals'  well-known  predaceous 
habits,  while  in  a  wild  state,  and  their  vicious 
treatment  of  their  beautiful  long  tail  gray  cousins, 
I  offer  no  defense,  but  can  say  that  the  red  squir- 
rel is  a  plucky,  pugnacious  little  animal,  and  that 
after  it  is  tame  it  makes  a  good  pet. 

Somebody  started  a  discussion  in  one  of  the 
New  York  papers  about  the  habits  of  the  chip- 
munk, claiming  this  rodent  did  not  climb  trees. 
It  was  done  as  a  joke,  but  many  of  us  were  sur- 
prised to  find  how  ignorant  city  people  are  about 
the  habits  of  this  little  striped  animal. 

It  is  a  popular  belief  that  most  of  the  men  in 
the  city  originally  came  from  farms,  but  this  can 
scarcely  be  true,  for  every  country  boy  knows  all 
about  the  habits  of  the  chipmunk,  and  I  seriously 
doubt  the  ability  of  some  of  the  people  who  rushed 
into  the  newspaper  discussion,  to  tell  the  difference 
between  the  chipmunk  and  a  skunk. 

Every  season,  for  many  years,  I  have  watched 
the  chipmunks  at  Wild  Lands,  and  have  frequently 
seen  them  climb  to  the  top  of  trees  60  to  70  feet 
high.  They  may  have  done  this  in  play,  but  I 
am  sorry  to  say  that  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
these  gentle  little  animals  are 

SOMETIMES  BLOODY  MINDED. 

Last  summer  I  saw  a  white-eyed  vireo  dart  at 
a  couple  of  chipmunks  on  a  white  oak  tree  and 
knock  them  both  from  their  perch  twenty  feet  or 
more  to  the  ground,  this  act  aroused  the  suspicion 


COMMON    CHIPMUNK 


8o  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

that  the  little  bird  might  be  more  familiar  with 
the  habits  of  the  chipmunk  than  our  city-bred 
naturalists,  and  that  perhaps  she  has  good  reasons 
for  driving  the  chipmunks  from  the  trees. 

It  was  on  account  of  this  suspicion  that  I  made 
some  experiments  and  attempted  to  discover  what 
sort  of  food  well-fed  chipmunks  would  eat.  By 
this  I  mean  animals  with  a  constant  supply  of  food 
at  hand  so  that  hunger  could  in  no  wise  tempt  them 
to  an  unusual  diet.  Two  chipmunks  which  I  had 
confined  in  a  wire  minnow  box  were  most  gentle 
and  interesting  little  pets  and  one  of  them  now  oc- 
cupies a  squirrel  cage  along  side  of  me  as  I  write. 

THE  WHITE  FOOTED  MICE 

discovered  years  ago,  that  there  is  a  bountiful 
supply  of  food  in  the  pantry  of  the  log  cabin,  food 
which  is  more  palatable  than  that  to  be  found 
in  the  surrounding  woods,  so  these  beautiful  little 
creatures  became  a  regular  nuisance  and  were  as 
annoying  to  the  housewife  as  are  their  degraded 
brothers,  the  Asiatic  mice,  to  the  housewives  of 
our  cities.  Consequently  I  set  traps  for  them  and 
caught  five  in  one  night.  The  little  rascals  had 
deservedly  forfeited  their  lives  by  taking  their 
abode  in  the  pantry,  but  I  did  not  care  to  become 
their  executioner,  so  I  took  a  tin  cracker  box  and 
cut  a  hole  in  it  as  near  as  I  could  judge  to  be 
about  the  size  of  a  mouse's  body;  then  filling  the 
tin  box  with  soft  nesting  material  and  the  five 
mice,  I  placed  it 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD 


FIELD   SKETCHES   IN   PENCIL  OF  WILD  WESTERN 

CHIPMUNKS 

IN  THE  CAGE  WITH  THE  CHIPMUNKS, 

my  idea  being  that  the  chipmunks  would  run 
around  the  cage  in  the  day  time  and  sleep  at  night, 
while  the  mice  would  run  around  at  night  and  sleep 
during  the  day.  I  was  perfectly  right  in  my  con- 
clusion, but  made  a  grave  mistake  of  judgment  in 
regard  to  the  size  of  the  hole  which  a  chipmunk 
can  enter,  and  when  I  visited  the  minnow  box  in 
the  morning  the.  rags  with  which  the  chipmunks 
had  made  a  nest  in  the  corner  of  the  cage  still 
occupied  their  accustomed  place;  there  was  no 
means  of  escape  visible  by  which  the  prisoners 
might  have  freed  themselves;  but  no  chipmunks 
were  in  sight. 

I  violently  shook  the  cage,  and  to  my  great  sur- 
prise the  two  chipmunks,  one  following  the  other, 
emerged  with  some  difficulty  from  the  small  hole 


%^  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

in  the  box  which  had  been  cut  for  the  mice,  but, 
as  every  thing  seemed  peaceful  and  mice  un- 
harmed, there  was  apparently  no  reason  for 
separating  them,  so  the  mice  and  their  big  cousins 
were  allowed  to  sleep  together.  The  mice  ap- 
peared perfectly  willing  to  do  this,  but  the  chip- 
munks, it  seemed,  had  their  own  idea  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  this  should  be  done.  At  the  end  of 
two  days  all  five  mice  were  resting 

INSIDE  THE  CHIPMUNKS! 

In  capturing  its  prey  the  chipmunk  springs 
upon  a  mouse,  and  grasping  it  in  its  arm,  severs 
the  jugular  with  its  chisel-like  teeth.  It  then  eats 
the  eyes  of  its  victim,  next  its  brain,  and  after  that 
the  rest  of  its  body,  bones  and  all.  The  neatness 
and  dispatch  with  which  they  do  this,  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  leave  the  skin  of  the  mouse 
intact  with  only  the  feet,  tail,  and  skull  attached, 
plainly  indicates  that  the  chipmunk  is  no  novice 
at  this  sort  of  work.  A  young  friend  of  mine 
now  employed  in  the  Museum  of  Natural  History 
at  Central  Park,  tells  me  that  he  shot  a  chipmunk 
with  the  fresh  scalp  of  another  chipmunk  in  its 
hands.  From  my  own  observations  I  think  that 
at  times  all  rodents  are  cannibals. 

Once  having  captured 

A  VERY  LARGE  GARTER  SNAKE 

I  put  it  in  with  the  chipmunks,  not  for  the  pur- 
pose of  causing  trouble,  but  because  the  chipmunks 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD    83 


CHIPMUNK  IN  THE  ACT  OF  EATING  A  WHITE-FOOT  MOUSE, 
WHICH  IT  HAD  JUST  CAPTURED 

occupied  the  only  available  cage,  and  I  thought 
that  they  could  take  care  of  themselves.  In  this 
I  was  again  right,  but  the  manner  of  taking  care 
of  themselves  pursued  by  the  little  imps  was  alto- 
gether unlocked  for  by  me. 

The  animals  showed  not  the  least  alarm  or  even 
excitement  in  the  presence  of  the  snake;  on  the 
contrary  the  biggest  rodent  suddenly  leaped  upon 
the  intruder  and  although  the  serpent,  after  the 
manner  of  a  true  constrictor,  quickly  wrapped  the 
chipmunk  in  the  folds  of  its  sinuous  body,  the 
struggles  of  the  "garter"  were  of  no  avail  and 
not  even  noticed  by  the  chipmunk  as  it  busied  it- 


84  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

self  biting  the  snake  through  the  neck.  A  moment 
later  the  little  chipmunk  was  sitting  on  its  haunches 
holding 

THE  SERPENT'S  HEAD  IN  ITS  DAINTY  PAWS 

calmly  eating  it  as  it  would  an  acorn  or  a  hickory- 
nut.  After  that  my  snakes  were  put  in  a  box  by 
themselves. 

A  ROBIN   HAD  ITS  NEST  IN  THE  CHESTNUT  TREE 

near  the  stone  chimney  of  the  log  cabin.  Under- 
neath the  spreading  branches  of  this  tree,  and 
directly  under  the  robin's  nest,  a  load  of  sand  had 
been  dumped  for  our  little  baby  daughter's  play- 
ground. It  rained  hard  one  day  and  packed  the 
sand  so  firmly  that  when  one  of  the  young  robins 
lost  its  balance  and  fell  on  the  hard  sand,  it  was 
instantly  killed,  to  the  great  grief  of  little  Barbara, 
who  witnessed  the  accident.  I  took  the  young 
robin  and  tossed  it  to  the  chipmunks  and  they 
fought  over  it  as  savagely  as  two  dogs  over  a 
bone.  All  of  which  leads  me  to  believe  that 
while  a  chipmunk  does  not  make  a  regular  prac- 
tice of 

ROBBING  BIRDS'  NESTS 

and  probably  does  not  disturb  the  eggs  as  do 
some  other  four-legged  scamps,  still,  I  do  think 
that  in  its  occasional  excursions  to  the  tree  tops  it 
would  not  pass  by  a  nest  of  young  birds  without 
helping  itself.  If  the  truth  were  known,  I  believe 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD    85 

that  all  rodents  are  more  or  less  omnivorous  and 
not  disinclined  to  add  meat  to  their  diet. 

THE    COMMON    BROWN    RAT 

was  once  undoubtedly  a  wild  animal  and  as  such 
most  probably  lived  on  a  diet  of  berries,  seeds  and 
nuts,  just  as  its  wild  cousins  do  today,  and  prob- 
ably for  the  same  reason,  that  is,  because  it  is  dif- 
ficult for  such  wild  animals  to  procure  meat. 

Only  a  little  while  ago  I  saw  a  gray  squirrel 
on  Bowne  Avenue,  in  Flushing,  Long  Island,  pur- 
sued by  a  flock  of  English  sparrows.  It  was  just 
in  front  of  my  house,  so  I  hurried  across  the  street 
to  discover  the  cause  of  the  pursuit.  As  the  squir- 
rel ran  up  a  large  pin  oak  tree  I  saw  that  in  its 
mouth  was,  not  an  acorn,  but  a  full-grown  English 
sparrow!  I  have  never  heard  the  gray  squirrel 
accused  of  nest  robbing.  However,  from  this  in- 
cident it  seems  probable  that  it  does  not  object 
to  varying  its  diet  of  nuts  with  the  taste  of  bird's 
flesh.  My 

CHIPMUNKS  WILL  EAT  RAW  MEAT, 

mice,  bread,  cheese,  milk,  and  in  fact  anything  that 
a  human  will  use  as  an  article  of  food  except  fish 
and  eggs.  They  will  also  hunt,  catch  and  de- 
vour frogs,  eat  flies,  beetles,  butterflies,  moths  and 
other  insects. 

A  half  tame  chipmunk  at  Whip-poor-will  cot- 
tage, near  Wild  Lands,  was  in  the  hot  pursuit  of 


86 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


SKETCH  OF  WESTERN  CHIPMUNK  FROM  LIFE 

a  large  pickerel  frog  when  the  latter,  by  a  skil- 
fully executed  back  jump,  threw  the  chipmunk  off 
the  trail.  The  grass  was  long  and  to  get  a  better 
view  of  the  field  the  chipmunk  mounted  a  large 
stone  and  from  this  vantage  ground  watched  with 
keenest  interest  the  grass  about  him,  but  the  frog 
had  had  a  narrow  escape  from  a  foe  with  which 
it  had  had  previous  encounters,  so  it  lay  quiet, 
concealed  by  the  grass  until  its  enemy,  tired  of  its 
watch,  went  to  the  kitchen  door  for  its  accustomed 
bit  of  table  leavings,  then  the  frog  hastened  to  its 
home  under  the  board  steps.  This  little  bit  of 
wood  play  was  enacted  in  full  view  of  an  inter- 
ested audience  in  the  cottage,  people  who  were  the 
personal  friends  of  both  the  frog  and  its  foe. 

My  readers  must  not  understand  by  these  re- 
marks that  I  approved  of,   or  even   intentionally, 


A  TRIBE  OF  GNAWERS  AND  THEIR  FOOD     87 

took  a  hand  in  causing  any  of  these  sanguinary 
encounters;  but  when  one  is  collecting  live  speci- 
mens for  sketching  purposes,  even  though  one 
gives  them  all  their  freedom  after  they  have  served 
as  models,  there  are  bound  to  be  some  unadvertised 
and  unscheduled  scraps  where  the  race  problem 
comes  to  the  front,  and  the  hereditary  prejudices 
and  antipathies  have  an  opportunity  of  venting 
themselves. 

A  little  white-footed 'mouse  which.  I  had  in  a 
cage  with  a  garter  snake  (but  for  which  I  pro- 
vided a  safe  retreat  in  one  corner,  so  fixed  that 
the  snake  could  not  enter  it),  became  so  enraged 
at  the  presence  of  its  enemy  that  it  left  its  safe 
retreat  to  attack  the  monster  snake,  for  monster 
it  was  in  comparison  with  the  size  of  the  little 
mouse;  but  I  doubt  if  this  would  have  happened 
in  the  open. 

It  was  probably  the  maternal  instinct  which 
prompted  the  little  mother  mouse  to  come  out 
and  attack  its  great  foe,  but,  whatever  it  was,  out 
she  came  and  jumped  right  for  the  snake,  much 
to  the  latter's  surprise.  Her  small  teeth,  although 
capable  of  inflicting  a  painful  bite  on  my  fingers, 
were  not  long  enough  to  do  any  serious  injury 
to  the  garter  snake,  and  before  I  could  open  the 
cage  to  interfere  the  latter  had  bitten  the  mouse 
severely  on  one  of  its  hind  feet. 

For  the  comfort  of  the  tender-hearted  reader, 
I  will  say  that  I  took  the  snake  from  the  cage 
and  liberated  it;  also,  that  I  kept  the  mother 


88  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

mouse  until  her  foot  had  healed,  and  when  I  let 
her  go  to  the  woods  her  injury  was  only  percepti- 
ble by  the  presence  of  a  slight  limp  as  she  went 
hopping  over  a  moss-covered  log  to  her  old  home 
m  the  hollow  trunk  of  a  tree. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  BATS  I  HAVE  HAD 

SYMBOLS  OF  DARKNESS — BATS  IN  HIS  BELFRY — ANIMATED 
AEROPLANES — HOW  TO  MAKE  AN  OBSERVATION  BAT  HOUSE 
— BAT  HOUSES  ON  FARMS — BATS  AT  "WILD  LANDS " — A 
DISREPUTABLE  BAT — TWO  LITTLE  BABY  BATS — DEATH  OF 
THE  MOTHER  BAT — HOW  WE  FED  THE  ORPHANS — TOO  KIND- 
HEARTED — DOLLS'  NURSING  BOTTLES  FOR  BABY  BATS 

There  are  many  very  interesting,  harmless  and 
pretty  creatures  in  this  world  which  are  looked 
upon  with  disgust  by  the  ordinary  uncultured  per- 
son. Old-time  witchcraft  and  superstition,  poets 
and  artists,  all  have  unintentionally  done  great  in- 
justice to  some  of  the  animals  of  this  world  and 
given  many  of  them  a  reputation  which  is  entirely 
undeserved. 

Because  owls  and  bats  are  nocturnal  animals 
they  have  been  used  from  time  immemorial  by 
artists  and  writers  as 

SYMBOLS    OF    DARKNESS. 

Physical  darkness  has  also  been  used  as  the  sym- 
bol of  ignorance  and  thus  the  owl  and  the  bat  are 
often  used  to  represent  ignorance.  But  because  of 
an  imaginary  wise  appearance  the  owl  is  also 


9o  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

represented  as  a  symbol  of  wisdom,  not  so  the 
poor  bat.  Today  there  is  a  common  slang  ex- 
pression used  to  indicate  a  disordered  mind,  and 
when  a  man  is  said  to  have 

"BATS  IN  HIS  BELFRY'* 

we  know  that  there  is  something  wrong  in  that 
person's  head;  that  bats  correspond  to  disorderly 
thoughts  and  the  belfry  to  the  head. 

In  this  manner  and  by  this  process  bats  have 
become  associated  in  everyone's  mind  with  super- 
stition, ignorance,  darkness,  lunacy,  and  a  lot 
of  other  disagreeable  and  uncanny  subjects.  For 
all  of  this  the  bat  itself  is  not  to  blame;  it  is  a 
useful,  beautiful  and  extremely  interesting  little 
animal  and  the  only  mammal  capable  of  flight. 

THE  FLYING  SQUIRREL  DOES  NOT  FLY, 

it  is  simply  an  animal  aeroplane,  capable  of  sail- 
ing down  from  a  high  point  to  a  lower  one;  but 
the  bat  has  the  same  powers  of  flight  as  a  bird, 
although  when  it  is  on  the  wing  it  more  truly  re- 
sembles a  butterfly  in  its  movements  than  a  bird. 
Any  one  who  wishes  to  make  a  study  of  bats  and 
their  habits  may  easily  do  so  by 

MAKING  AN  OBSERVATION  BAT  HOUSE. 

Take  a  board  the  size  of  a  cellar  window  sash, 
nail  four  small  blocks  about  one  inch  thick  to  the 
four  corners  and  nail  the  window  sash  to  these 


THE  BATS  I  HAVE  HAD 


^ 


LEG  OF  YOUNG  BAT  DRAWN    FROM    LIFE 

four  blocks.     The  board  should  be  rough  and  un- 
planed  so  as  to 


GIVE    THE    BATS   A    FOOTHOLD. 

A  door  to  cover  the  window  sash  can  be  made  of 
a  second  board.  The  bat  house  must  either  hang 
like  an  old  fashioned  tavern  sign,  be  nailed  up  flat 
against  the  side  of  a  stable,  barn  or  dwelling,  or 
fastened  to  a  pole;  but  wherever  it  is  placed  it 
should  be  set  upright  upon  its  edge  in  the  position 
a  sash  occupies  in  the  window  of  a  house.  If  this 
frame  work  is  boxed  in  so  that  the  sides  and  the 
top  are  closed  to  protect  the  inside  from  the  rain, 
but  left  open  at  the  bottom,  the  bats  will  enter 
from  below. 

A  door  or  shutter  made  of  another  piece  of 
board  and  swung  from  hinges  at  the  top,  can  be 
arranged  so  that  it  will  hang  over  the  sash  and 
give  to  the  interior  the  darkness  which  the  bats 
so  dearly  love. 


92  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

THE  SHUTTER 

should  fasten  with  a  hook  at  the  bottom  to  pre- 
vent the  wind  from  banging  it  back  and  forth. 
When  the  space  between  the  sash  and  the  back 
board  is  occupied  by  the  bats,  they  can  be  exam- 
ined at  any  time  by  opening  the  shutter  and  watch- 
ing the  inmates  through  the  glass. 

Bat  houses  constructed  on  this  or  a  similar  plan 
should  find  a  place  on  every  farm,  because  bats 
feed  exclusively  on  night-flying  insects  and  moths 
which  are  as  a  rule  most  injurious  to  vegetation. 
But  bat  houses  can  be  made  of  only  two  pieces  of 
board  each  and  when  they  are  not  made  for  ob- 
serving the  inmates,  of  course  they  need  no  sash. 

The  open  spaces  between  the  logs  of  my  house 
at  Wild  Lands  have  from  the  first  been  favorite 
homes  for  families  of  bats.  In  company  with  a 
friend  I  was  cleaning  and  adjusting  my  fishing 
rods  one  summer  day  when  I  was  startled  by  a 
scream  coming  from  the  bedroom  overhead;  drop- 
ping our  tools  we  both  made  a  rush  upstairs,  and 
there  we  found  my  devoted  help-mate  in  a  great 
state  of  excitement  because  she  had  "heard  a  rattle- 
snake in  the  walls." 

I  thought  that  she  was  mistaken,  because  it  is 
not  an  act  characteristic  of  a  rattle-snake  to  climb 
to  the  second  story  of  a  house,  but  when  I  struck 
the  wall  with  my  fist  the  blow  was  answered  by 
a  rapid  rattling  noise  which  startled  all  three  of 
us.  Each  time  I  made  the  experiment  of  pounding 
on  the  wall  the  "varmint"  inside  replied  by  making 


, 


SKETCHES  OF  TWO  SPECIES  OF  BATS 


94  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

the  same  alarming  noise.  After  the  first  excite- 
ment was  over  I  was  positive  the  noise  was  not 
produced  by  a  snake,  but  what  did  cause  it  was 
an  unsolved  mystery. 

When  I  put  a  ladder  against  the  outside  of  the 
house,  however,  to  search  for  the  intruder,  I  pur- 
sued my  investigations  with  the  utmost  caution, 
notwithstanding  my  firm  conviction  that  it  was 
no  snake,  but,  to  use  a  familiar  expression,  "there 
was  nothing  doing,"  so  we  again  returned  to  our 
various  occupations;  and  the  incident  would  have 
been  forgotten  had  not  my  fisherman  friend 
chanced  to  look  up  and  in  doing  so  discovered  a 
small  head  protruding  from  a  chink  in  the  wall. 
It  was  the  work  of  an  instant  to  mount  again  the 
ladder  and  investigate.  There  I  found,  not  a 
snake,  but  the  measliest  moth-eaten,  crippled,  old 
battered  veteran  of  a  bat  that  I  had  ever  laid  my 
eyes  upon. 

There  was  scarcely  any  hair  upon  the  animal's 
back  and  the  slits  in  its  ears  and  cuts  on  its  face 
were  evidently  the  marks  received  in  battle.  Every 
time  I  moved,  the  bat  scolded  me  by  emitting  a 
rattling  sort  of  noise.  I  took  it  down  from  the 
house  and  discovered  that  it  was  unable  to  fly, 
so  I  hung  it  up  in  the  hollow  of  an  old  oak  tree 
and  left  it  to  its  fate. 

The  bat  was  reasonably  plump,  did  not  have  a 
starved  appearance  and  consequently  must  have 
been  able  to  capture  its  food  without  flying  after 
it.  It  appeared  to  me  as  if  :t  was  suffering  from 


THE  BATS  I  HAVE  HAD  95 

old  age  and  a  quarrelsome  disposition  and  that  its 
joints  were  rheumatic;  the  old  reprobate  had  the 
gout,  and  whenever  it  attempted  to  crawl  or  move 
it  would  begin  to  swear,  in  bat  language,  just  like 
a  gouty  human  sinner.  Far  more  interesting  than 
this  crabbed  wreck,  were  the  mother  bat  and 

TWO  LITTLE  BABY  BATS 

which  a  small  boy  captured  for  me  on  a  tree  in 
Flushing.  I  made  careful  studies  of  the  little  bats 
and  after  their  death  preserved  them  in  alcohol, 
but  the  drawings  have  been  misplaced  or  lost,  the 
alcohol  in  the  bottle  long  since  evaporated  and  the 
•bodies  disintegrated.  I  am  very  sorry  for  this,  be- 
cause I  know  of  no  good  picture  of  baby  bats 
drawn  from  life.  The  two  little  babies,  when  cap- 
tured, were  clinging  to  the  breast  of  their  mother, 
and  when  I  put  her  inside  the  wire  cage,  built  for 
the  white-footed  mice,  the  babies  did  not  loosen 
their  hold  of  mamma. 

I  fed  the  old  bat  with  small  pieces  of  fresh  meat, 
which  I  gave  to  her  from  the  point  of  a  hat-pin. 
Perhaps  the  red  meat  was  too  strong  for  her 
stomach,  or  it  may  be  that  the  old  mother  bat  was 
injured  by  the  boy  when  he  captured  her;  at  any 
rate  she  did  not  live  long  in  confinement. 

Under  the  circumstances  it  did  not  seem  strange 
that  the  bat  should  perish,  but  her  actions  and 
preparation  for  death  struck  me  as  being  very  novel 
and  interesting.  It  was  her  custom  to  hang  all 


96  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

day  by  her  hind  feet  with  her  head  down  and  with 
her  two  babies  folded  in  her  winged  arms. 

At  night  she  was  more  lively  and  would  clamber 
all  over  the  cage;  but  on  this  particular  occasion 
she  seemed  disinclined  to  move;  at  length,  how- 
ever, she  disengaged  her  two  little  babies  and  care- 
fully hung  them  side  by  side  to  the  wires  of  the 
enclosure. 

Previous  to  this  occasion  the  two  babies  and  the 
mother  had  never  been  separated,  so,  when  I  saw 
what  she  had  done,  my  curiosity  was  greatly  ex- 
cited and  when  the  little  mother  slowly  and  pain- 
fully climbed  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  cage,  let 
go  her  hold  and  rested  upon  her  back,  I  was  sur- 
prised, for  I  had  never  before  seen  a  bat  voluntarily 
assume  this  position. 

I  did  not  see  how  she  removed  the  young  ones 
from  her  breast  as  the  act  was  unexpected,  but  I 
saw  her  with  the  babies  and  the  next  moment  they 
were  hung  on  the  wires  and  a  few  hours  after- 
wards when  I  looked  at  her  again,  I  was  still  more 
surprised  to  find  that  she  was  dead.  Was  this  ac- 
cidental, or  did  the  poor  mother  feel  that  her  time 
had  come  and  prepare  for  it  by  tenderly  hanging 
her  babies  out  of  harm's  way?  If  an  accident  it 
was  interesting,  if  an  intelligent  act  it  was  pathetic. 

I  had  now  two  orphans  on  my  hands  and  how 
to  feed  them  was  the  question.  At  first  I  put  a 
rag  in  a  saucer  of  milk  and  the  other  end  in  a 
baby's  mouth;  this  seemed  to  answer  the  purpose 
and  to  be  in  a  measure  successful,  but  the  babies 


THE  BATS  I  HAVE  HAD  97 

bedaubed  themselves  all  over  with  milk  and  the 
process  of  feeding  was  tedious.  I  next  secured  two 
dolls'  nursing  bottles  and  they  answered  the  pur- 
pose beautifully. 

The  little  bats  were  greedy  babies  and  had  to 
be  limited  in  the  amount  of  milk  given  to  them. 
Shortly  after  this  I  went  on  an  exploring  expedi- 
tion to  some  islands  lying  off  the  extremity  of  Long- 
Island.  It  was  out  of  the  question  for  me  to  take 
the  baby  bats  along  with  me  and  so  I  turned  them 
over  to  my  sister-in-law,  knowing  that  the  helpless 
little  things  would  appeal  to  her  kind  heart.  But 
Lord  bless  her  soul,  she  was 

TOO  KIND  HEARTED! 

In  the  hurry  of  my  departure  I  forgot  to  cau- 
tion my  volunteer  nurse  regarding  the  amount  of 
food  to  give  the  babies.  She  tenderly  placed  the 
little  things  in  a  warm  bed  of  soft  wool  and  gave 
them  each  a  bottle  full  of  warm  milk.  Although 
the  nursing  bottles  were  made  for  dolls,  each  bot- 
tle was  larger  than  the  baby  attached  to  it,  and 
the  consequence  was  that  the  greedy  little  bats 
sucked  away  at  the  bottle  until  they  were  both  dis- 
tended like  two  little  round  bladders,  filled  with 
milk.  Sad  to  relate,  they  both  perished  from  an 
acute  attack  of  expansion. 


CHAPTER  VII 


DO  MEN  THINK? 

DO  ANIMALS  POSSESS  INSTINCT — THE  EFFECT  OF  THE 
CHWESE  GONG  UPON  THE  HOTEL  GUESTS — NEGROES 
AND  OXEN — WHAT  IS  INSTINCT  ? — HOW  TO  CONCEAL  IGNOR- 
ANCE— HOW  TO  UNDERSTAND  THE  ACTION  OF  LOWER 
ANIMALS — EARLY  NATURE  FAKIRS — FUNNY  OLD  HENRY 
VII. — THE  GRIZZLY  BEAR  WHIPS  THE  KING  OF  BEASTS 
— RATS  UNABLE  TO  SOLVE  A  NEW  PUZZLE — WISE  MEN 
FOOLED  ON  THE  FIRST  OF  APRIL — BROWN  BESS  THE  BAR 
LIFTER — THE  COON  THAT  SOLVED  A  NEW  PROBLEM — HE 
EATS  THEM  ALIVE — A  MONKEY  THAT  SOMETIMES  TURNED 
THE  HYDRANT  OFF — THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  KID 
WHICH  PLAYED  THAT  THE  HOTEL  TOWELS  WERE  SNOW — 
FOOLISH  COWS  THAT  EAT  SHIRTS 

Twenty-five  years  ago  the  dinner-gong  was  in 
common  use  at  hotels  and  boarding  houses  and 
there  are  men  living  today  who  can  remember 
when  this  noisy  oriental  instrument  was  first  in- 
troduced, and  all  of  them  can  remember  the  first 
time  they  heard  one  of  them. 

When  the  Chinese  Gong  was  introduced  in  the 
Burnett  House  in  Cincinnati,  at  the  first  quivering 
noise  the  guests  sat  up  straight  in  their  chairs  and 
looked  wildly  at  each  other,  as  the  clamor  in- 
creased in  volume  the  guests  rose  hastily  from  their 
seats,  and  when  the  noise  was  at  its  worst  there 

98 


DO  MEN  THINK  ?  99 

was  a  panic;  the  office,  barber-shop,  and  bar-room 
were  empty  and  the  terror  stricken  customers  were 
fleeing  from  what  they  thought  to  be  a  house  fall- 
ing about  their  ears. 

The  first  Chinese  dinner-gong  used  for  a  dinner 
call  at  Memphis,  Tennessee,  not  only 

STAMPEDED  ALL  THE  OX-TEAMS 

within  hearing,  but  the  planters  and  negroes  as 
well.  The  oxen  threw  up  their  heads  and  bel- 
lowed, the  negroes  showing  the  whites  of  their 
eyes,  jumped  to  their  feet,  and  the  languid  planters 
vied  with  their  slaves  and  animals  in  fleeing  down 
the  streets  to  escape  the  shapeless  horror  which 
pursued  them. 

As  soon  as  experience  taught  the  men  that  this 
sound  meant  food,  they  welcomed  it  with  glad 
smiles  and  no  fear.  As  soon  as  experience  taught 
the  oxen  and  negroes  that  no  danger  lurked  in  the 
sound  of  the  dinner-gong,  fear  vanished  from 
among  them  and  thereafter  when  the  gong  sounded 
the  planters  strolled  to  the  dining-room,  the 
negroes  lounged  around,  the  oxen  calmly  chewed 
their  cuds  and  paid  no  heed  to  the  clamor.  The 
same  sort  of  sound  might  stampede  a  sloth  of 
bears,  a  route  of  wolves,  or  a  clowder  of  wild  cats, 
or  a  herd  of  elk,  but  if  no  harm  accompanied  the 
sound,  these  animals,  like  the  planters,  negroes  and 
oxen  would  soon  learn  not  to  be  frightened. 

To  understand  properly  the  living  creatures  of 
this  world  we  must 


ioo  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ATTRIBUTE   NOTHING  TO  INSTINCT, 

this  vague  word  has  too  long  blocked  the  threshold 
of  the  study  of  animated  nature. 

It  must  be  taken  for  granted  that  everything 
in  the  natural  world  can  be  explained  in  a  practical 
or  natural  manner  and  we  must  remember  that 
such  words  as  "instinct"  are  invented,  not  for  the 
purpose  of  enlightenment,  but 

TO   CONCEAL   IGNORANCE. 

When  we  do  not  know  what  a  thing  is  we  give 
it  a  name  and  thereafter  speak  familiarly  of  it, 
calling  it  by  name  (the  name  we  gave  it)  and  de- 
ceive ourselves  into  thinking  that  it  is  all  explained. 

While  man's  intellectual  powers  are  acknowl- 
edged to  far  exceed  those  of  the  brutes,  the  most 
casual  observer  cannot  help  noticing  that  the 
brutes  possess  a  mind  peculiarly  their  own,  prob- 
ably differing  in  its  possible  development,  rather 
than  in  its  nature,  from  that  of  the  man. 

We  can  neither  imagine  nor  conceive  a  thing 
which  does  not  correspond  in  some  manner  with 
our  own  personal  experience,  because  the  imagina- 
tion feeds  upon  and  is  composed  only  of  the 
things  of  which  we  are  conscious  through  our 
senses. 

Hence,  it  follows  that  to  understand  the  action 
of  the  lower  animals,  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  be 
able  to  place  ourselves  mentally  in  their  position 
and  think  how  we  would  act  with  the  beast's  limita- 
tions and.surroundings. 


DO  MEN  THINK  ?  101 

The  student  must  be  able  to  imagine  how  he 
would  express  his  emotions  with  vocal  organs  capa- 
ble of  producing  only  grunts,  whines,  growls  or 
bellowing;  he  must  think  how  he  would  act  if, 
like  the  dog,  his  sense  of  smell  was  so  acute  that 
each  individual  stick,  stone,  tree,  and  shrub ;  each 
patch  of  earth,  sand  or  water,  possessed  to  him  a 
distinct  and  recognizable  odor;  how  he  would 
move  if  he  had  the  body  of  a  frog,  a  snake,  a  tur- 
tle, or  an  elephant. 

He  must  conceive  how  he  would  conduct  himself 
if,  like  the  hawk  he  had  a  sight  so  keen  as  to  be 
able  to  know  food,  drink,  friend  and  foe  at  dis- 
tances, only  possible  to  him  now,  when  his  human 
eyes  are  aided  by  the  most  powerful  field  glasses. 

Formerly  it  was  the  general  custom  of  writers 
to  endow  the  birds  and 

BEASTS  WITH  WONDERFUL   HUMAN  MINDS, 

and  more  than  human  sentiment.  There  has  been 
a  change  since  those  romantic  days,  and  now  every- 
thing in  the  scale  of  life  below  man  is,  by  many, 
called  an  automaton,  in  other  words  a  machine. 

In  the  ancient  Book  of  English  Dogges  printed 
in  the  sixteenth  century  a  story  is  told  of  Henry 
the  Seventh  becoming  angry  because 

FOUR  "BANDOGGES"  CONQUERED  A  LION 

in  fair  battle,  and  he  "commanded  all  such  dogges 
(how  many  soeuer  they  were  in  number)  should 


102  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


A  RESOURCEFUL  'COON 

be  hanged,  beyng  deeply  displeased  that  so  ill 
favored  rascall  curre  should  with  such  violent  vil- 
lany  assault  the  valiant  Lyon  King  of  Beasts!" 

In  an  ancient  history  of  this  same  King,  quoted 
in  the  old  Latin  dog  book,  it  tells  how  King  Henry 
also  ordered  that  a  falcon  should  be  killed  because 
it  presumed  to  attack  an  eagle,  the  King  of  birds. 

It  is  a  pity  that  the  old  pumpkin  headed  Henry 
was  not  present  at  Laredo,  Texas,  when  a  plebian 
grizzly  bear  seized  the  terrible  man-eating  lion 
"Parnell"  by  the  shoulder,  swung  his  royal  high- 
ness high  in  air  and  slammed  him  down  so  hard 
on  the  ground  that  the  King  of  beasts  lay  there 
limp  and  unconscious. 

It  is  entertaining  to  think  how  indignant  King 
Henry  would  have  been  had  he  witnessed  this  act 
of  "lese  majeste"  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  guess 


DO  MEN  THINK?  103 

what  the  fate  of  the  grizzly  would  have  been—- 
if the  King's  orders  were  obeyed  as  well  as  are 
those  of  a  certain  brilliant  but  vain  and  childish 
emperor,  who  sends  a  laborer  to  nine  months  in 
prison  for  sticking  out  his  tongue  at  him. 

But  long  ago  before  Uncle  Remus  had  taught 
some  of  our  modern  romantic  nature  writers  his 
peculiar  method  of  viewing  Natural  History,  long 
before  the  reaction  which  teaches  us  that  animals 
are  nothing  but  living  machines,  there  was  a  time 
when  animals  were  not  only  thought  to  be  en- 
dowed with  human  reason,  but  also  with  human 
morals  and  human  tendency  to  crime.  A  proof  of 
this  is  in  the  fact  that  they  were  frequently  brought 
into  court  with  lawyers  to  defend  and  lawyers  to 
prosecute  them  for  their  misdeeds. 

But  the  careful  observer  and  student  who  has 
freed  himself  from  the  loose  reasoning  of  the  first 
writers  and  the  narrow  reasoning  of  the  last  ones, 
cannot  help  being  astonished,  both  at  the 

POWER  OF  "INSTINCT,"  AND  THE  LIMITATIONS  OF 
"MIND" 

in  insect,  beast  and  man. 

The  scientist  who  prepares  an  elaborate  labyrinth 
with  which  to  test  the  reasoning  powers  of  a  rat, 
forgets  that  he  should  not  venture  beyond  the 
previous  experiences  of  the  rat.  Many  of  the  so- 
called  reasoning  human  beings  are  as  helpless  as 
the  rodent  when  confronted  with  entirely  new 


104  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

problems,  problems  which  former  experiences  will 
not  help  them  to  solve. 

Because  a  rat  is  unable  to  find  its  way  out  of 
one  of  these  puzzle  boxes  invented  by  the  scientists, 
does  not  prove  a  lack  of  reason  on  the  part  of  the 
rodent. 

To  illustrate  this  as  well  as  to  give  a  lesson  in 
temperance,  I  once  caused  frozen  jelly  in  cocktail 
glasses  to  be  served  to  a  company  of  two  hundred 
men;  each  glass  had  a  cherry  in  the  bottom  of 
the  jelly  and  the  latter  was  as  firm  and  hard,  al- 
most, as  if  it  was  a  part  of  the  glass. 

The  men  represented  the  most  intelligent  and 
cultured  class  of  New  York  City. 

Yet  regardless  of  the  fact  that  they  were  as- 
sembled for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  the  advent 
of  the  first  of  April,  when,  as  Toast  Master,  I  pro- 
posed 

AN  APRIL  FOOL  TOAST 

which  in  itself  should  have  excited  their  suspicion, 
these  two  hundred  intelligent  human  beings  stood 
on  their  feet  for  at  least  three  minutes  and  tried 
to  drink  the  solid  bit  of  jelly  from  their  glasses. 

Not  satisfied  with  one  or  two  attempts,  they  held 
their  glasses  up  to  the  light,  looked  earnestly  at 
the  supposed  liquid,  and  then  tried  again  and  again 
to  suck  it  down  their  throats. 

If  some  grave  old  scientist  had  tried  this  experi- 
ment in  order  to  determine  whether  men  were 
possessed  with  reason  or  whether  they  were  ma- 
chines, would  the  experimenter  have  decided,  upon 


DO  MEN  THINK?  105 

the  evidence  before  him,  that  the  eminent  judges, 
authors,  writers,  artists,  publishers,  and  leading 
merchants  were  all  machines? 

I  do  not  claim  that  the  lower  creatures  possess 
a  human  intellect,  far  from  it;  but  inasmuch  as  it 
is  admitted  that  our  brains  have  grown  or  de- 
veloped from  something  possessed  by  a  lower 
form  of  animal, 

THE  ADMISSION  ADMITS 

that  the  animal  must  have  possessed  something 
from  which  an  intellect  could  be  developed,  in 
other  words  a  mind,  which  by  education  gradually 
becomes  a  human  intellect.  If,  according  to  science, 
man  is  but  an  educated  animal,  it  is  evident  that  we 
need  some  new  definition  of  reason,  intellect,  and 
instinct  in  order  to  escape  endless  misunderstanding 
and  discussion  and  make  a  platform  on  which  all 
may  stand  and  from  which  we  can  reach  some 
common-sense  conclusion.  But  to  give  the  wishy- 
washy  sentiments  of  the  old  writers  to  the  beasts, 
or  to  take  the  Uncle  Remus  school  of  nature 
writers  seriously  is  as  absurd  as  the  automatism  as- 
serted by  some  of  our  modern  naturalists. 

AN  OLD  BROWN  COW 

I  once  knew  was  always  sleek  and  fat ;  whether  the 
grass  crop  was  good  or  bad  mattered  little  to 
her. 

Like  other  cows, 


io6  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

BROWN  BESS 

had  a  pasture,  but  she  only  used  it  as  an  exercise 
ground  and  loafing  place.  When  she  really  wanted 
food  she  selected  the  garden  patch  which  contained 
the  vegetables  her  highly  cultivated  appetite 
craved.  After  appeasing  her  hunger  she  would  re- 
turn to  her  pasture  lot  and  contentedly  chew  the 
cud. 

Another  cow  possessing  the  same  ingenuity,  but 
with  less  self-control,  would  have  foundered  in  the 
first  red  clover  field,  or  miserably  perished  from 
overloading  her  numerous  stomachs  with  sugar 
corn,  or  died  in  an  agony  of  colic  from  the  con- 
sumption of  too  many  green  apples;  but  not  so 
with  old  Brown  Bess!  She  grew  plump  and  fat, 
and  her  rotund  sides  appeared  as  if  they  had  just 
been  brushed,  combed  and  oiled  for  exhibition  at 
the  county  fair. 

I  was  curious  to  find  out  how  she  managed  to 
live  so  well,  when  all  her  companions  were  "ran- 
gey"  and  lean,  so  one  day  I  shadowed  her. 

When  I  discovered  her  she  was  cropping  the 
grass  by  the  roadside  in  company  with  three  other 
cows  and  a  young  bull.  Bess  gazed  at  me  so  in- 
nocently with  her  big  soft  eyes  that  I  was  willing 
to  swear  that  she  had  been  slandered  by  the  en- 
vious people  who  owned  the  thin  cattle  with  moth- 
eaten  tails.  After  pausing,  however,  to  exchange 
greetings  with  her,  scratch  the  cowlick  on  her  fore- 
head and  pat  her  glossy  sides,  I  stole  away  and 
hid  behind  a  tree. 


DO  MEN  THINK?  107 

For  a  time  the  cattle  all  browsed  in  a  nonchalant 
manner,  but  presently  Brown  Bess  raised  her  head 
and  looked  around  with  studied  carelessness.  Her 
big,  intelligent  eyes  took  in  the  landscape  at  a 
glance;  evidently  her  mind  was  not  occupied  with 
the  dusty  grass  at  her  feet. 

Bess  had  a  pair  of 

BEAUTIFUL    LONG   HORNS, 

which  sprang  from  her  head  in  wide,  graceful 
curves.  After  the  manner  of  cows,  she  began  to 
rub  them  against  a  tree  growing  near  the  post  and 
rail  fence  which  enclosed  a  field  of  young  growing 
corn. 

Nothing  suspicious  being  in  sight,  she  ceased  to 
dissemble,  then  walking  up  to  the  fence  she  skill- 
fully inserted  her  curved  horns  under  a  rail,  lifted 
her  head  until  the  end  of  the  rail  was  loose  in  the 
hole  in  the  post,  and  then,  by  turning  her  head 
slowly  to  one  side,  slid  one  end  of  the  rail  from 
the  hole  and  gently  deposited  it  on  the  ground. 

It  is  possible  that  this  might  have  been  an  ac- 
cident, but  the  rapt  attention  and  expectant  atti- 
tude of  the  young  bull  and  other  cows  plainly 
showed  that  they  did  not  look  upon  it  in  that  light. 

The  most  enthusiastic  believer  in  animal  autom- 
atonism  could  not  honestly  say  it  was  accidental 
when  Brown  Bess  removed  two  more  rails  in  the 
same  manner,  and  then,  stepping  over  the  low  bot- 
tom rail,  led  her  companions  to  a  feast  that  would 
make  their  lean  sides  swell  to  the  danger  mark. 


io8  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Evidently  this  old  cow,  alone  and  unaided,  had 
experimented  until  she  solved  the  problem  of  a  oOst 
and  rail  fence,  just  as  she  had  also  discovered  a 
way  to  unhook  a  gate.  In  other  words,  she  had 
solved  a  puzzle  box's  secret,  and  had  she  been 
human  we  would  say  she  did  it  by  common  sense 
and  reason,  but  as  she  was  only  a  cow  I  must  call 
it  instinct  to  prevent  some  of  my  good  friends 
among  the  naturalists  from  dealing  harshly  with 
this  book. 


A   RESOURCEFUL  ;COON. 


I  once  owned  a  'coon  which  was  extravagantly 
fond  of  craw  iish,  and  kept  me  busy  seining  the 
riffs  for  these  fresh  water  lobsters. 

When  a  big,  vicious  specimen  was  thrown  to  the 
'coon,  the  animal  took  great  care  in  approaching 
until  it  was  within  easy  reach;  then  it  gently  placed 
both  its  hands  upon  the  middle  of  the  crustacean's 
back.  Moving  its  hands  in  opposite  directions,  the 
'coon  would  gently  but  firmly  smooth  out  the 
jointed  and  armored  tail,  and  at  the  same  time  lay 
the  strong  pincers  flat  upon  the  ground,  and  thus 
with  claws  and  tail  extended  the  helpless  captive 
was  pinioned  to  the  earth  to  be 

EATEN  ALIVE. 

Even    a    powerful    salt    water    lobster's    strength 
would  not  avail  him  in  such  an  emergency. 

Of  course,  raccoons  have  hunted  craw  fish  and 
eaten  them  in  this  manner  ever  since  'coons  and 


DO  MEN  THINK  r  109 

craw  fish  existed,  and  the  method  of  capture  might 
be  claimed  as  an  "inherited  automatic  instinct," 
whatever  that  may  mean.  But  no  inherited  knowl- 
edge could  have  helped  my  pet  to  solve  the  follow- 
ing problem  which  I  invented  to  test  its  common 
sense  and  power  to  reason — excuse  me,  I  mean  in- 
stinct. 

Selecting  about  a  peck  of  the  largest,  huskiest 
craw  fish  the  river  could  produce  I  dumped  the 
whole  of  the  fighting,  armored  creatures  in  a  heap 
in  front  of  Mr.  'Coon. 

No  similar  experience  of  its  ancestors  could 
help  the  four-handed  fisherman  in  this  dilemma, 
but  the  'coon  was  equal  to  the  emergency. 

Walking  up  to  the  rustling  heap  of  claws  and 
long  waving  antennae,  the  raccoon  straddled  its 
legs  wide  apart,  covered  the  animated  heap,  and 
gently  settled  down  upon  them  as  a  brooding  hen 
might  settle  upon  a  nest  of  eggs.  To  my  surprise, 
the  craw  fish  made  no  effort  to  escape,  apparently 
"thinking"  that  they  were  safely  concealed  from 
their  enemies. 

With  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  twinkle  in  its 
cunning  eyes,  the  'coon  proceeded  to  fish  out  one 
craw  fish  at  a  time  and  leisurely  devour  it,  until  all 
that  remained  of  that  heap  of  armored  knights  was 
a  lot  of  scattered  claws  and  tails,  marking  the  spot 
where,  by  'coon  sense,  a  'coon  had  solved  a  dif- 
ficult problem  in  a  simple,  practical,  common  sense 
manner. 


i io  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

THIS  MONKEY  KNEW   HOW  TO  GET  A  DRINK. 

A  monkey  we  had  at  home  soon  discovered  the 
use  of  the  hydrant  and  would  turn  on  the  faucet, 
hold  its  mouth  to  the  stream  of  water,  take  a  drink 
and  turn  off  the  water  again-— sometimes. 

A  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT'S  ARTIFICIAL  SNOW 
FIELD. 

At  Field,  B.  C.,  I  saw  a  Rocky  Mountain  kid 
which  had  been  captured  by  a  guide.  I  had  heard 
that  the  Rocky  Mountain  goats  paw  away  the 
melting  snow  in  order  to  feed  upon  the  succulent 
grass  beneath.  There  was  no  snow  nearer  than  the 
top  of  Mount  Stephen  to  test  the  story,  but  there 
was  a  clothes-line  laden  with  white  towels.  In  a 
spirit  of  mischief  I  told  the  hotel  guests  of  the 
habits  of  these  goats  in  the  snow  field  and  then  an- 
nounced that  we  would  make  a  make-believe  field 
and  see  what  would  happen.  I  then  gathered  an 
armful  of  towels  and  spread  them  over  the  grass  to 
make  an  artificial  snow  field. 

The  kid  trotted  over  to  the  towels.  After  caper- 
ing around  on  them  for  awhile,  she  began  to  paw 
with  her  front  foot  until  she  had  displaced  a  towel ; 
then  she  greedily  nipped  the  exposed  grass.  She 
went  through  this  performance  again  and  again, 
and  ended  by  lying  down  in  the  middle  of  the  arti- 
ficial snow  field  to  the  great  amusement  of  the 
spectators. 


DO  MEN  THINK?  in 

If  she  had  been  a  domestic  goat  she  would  have 
ignored  the  grass  and  eaten  the  towels,  which  re- 
minds me  that  goats  are  not  the, only  animals  ad- 
dicted to  eating  manufactured  fabrics. 

Once,  while  looking  out  of  the  window  of  a  din- 
ing car,  I  saw  a  young  cow  in  a  back  yard  calmly 
chewing  and 

SWALLOWING  A   FRESHLY-LAUNDERED  SHIRT. 

She  ate  one  whole  shirt,  and  the  sleeve  of  a  sec- 
ond disappeared  as  my  train  pulled  out. 

Where  the  Licking  River  empties  into  the  Ohio, 
between  Covington  and  Newport,  Kentucky,  on  the 
Covington  side,  there  is  a  retaining  wall  of  stone 
built  to  keep  the  high  bank  from  being  washed 
away  during  the  floods.  The  top  of  this  wall  was 
formerly  a  favorite  lounging  place  for  the  Coving- 
ton  youngsters  and  the  shale  bar  below  was  a 
favorite  spot  from  which  to  swim  during  low  water. 

One  day  while  sitting  on  top  of  the  wall  watch- 
ing some  boys  in  swimming  I  saw  a  young  cow 
walk  up  to  the  boys'  heap  of  clothes  below  me 
and  calmly  eat  their  damp  little  shirts;  as  the  tail 
of  the  last  shirt  disappeared  I  left,  because  the 
boys  were  bigger  than  I  was  and  I  well  knew 
that  I  would  be  held  responsible  for  those 
shirts  and  that  the  cow  story  would  not  be  be- 
lieved. This  showed  caution  and  boy  sense 
on  my  part,  but  shirt  eating  does  not  appear  to 
be  an  intellectual  pursuit  even  for  a  cow. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BIRDS    AND    INSECTS      THAT    WILL    TAKE     AN 
ARTIFICIAL  FLY 


CAT  BIRDS  AND  HORNETS,  DECEIVED  BY  PICTURES — THE 
ICHNEUMON  FLY  MADE  AN  ATTEMPT  TO  PUNCTURE  A  NAIL — 
INCIDENTS  SHOWING  POOR  JUDGMENT  OR  POOR  INSTINCT 
ON  THE  PART  OF  OUR  UNDEVELOPED  FELLOW  CREATURES 


We  are  all  familiar  with  the  story  of  the  painter, 
who  painted  the  grapes  so  well  as 

TO  DECEIVE  THE  BIRDS  OF  THE  AIR, 

so  that  they  flew  down  and  pecked  the  painting 
mistaking  the  flat  surface  of  the  picture  for  the 
luscious  fruit;  probably  most  of  us  have  looked 
upon  this  story  as  a  pretty  bit  of  fable;  but  it  is 
not  an  improbable  story. 

ANY  ONE  CAN  DECEIVE  A  BIRD 

with  the  crudest  sort  of  a  representation  of  bugs, 
or  insects,  even  if  they  are  only  black  silhouettes 
upon  a  piece  of  white  paper,  as  I  have  proved  by 
experiment,  and  as  for  the  insects  themselves,  ] 
have  seen 


BIRDS  AND  INSECTS  113 

HORNETS 

time  after  time  attempt  to  carry  away  the  heads 
of  nails  from  where  they  appeared  on  the  surface 
of  the  framework  of  houses.  The  hornets  only 
saw  a  black  dot  and  mistook  it  for  a  fly. 

THE  ICHNEUMON  FLY 

is  a  strange  wasp-like  insect ;  the  female  has  a  long 
tube  at  the  end  of  her  body,  composed  of  the  fur- 
rowed pieces  of  the  sheath  of  her  gimlet,  which  she 
uses  for  the  purpose  of  piercing  the  bodies  of  help- 
less grubs. 

To  do  this  it  is  necessary  for  her  to  locate  the 
grubs  in  the  wood  and  this  she  does  by  probing 
the  worm  holes  with  the  long  instrument  attached 
to  her  body. 

The  particular  ichneumon  fly  of  which  I  am 
speaking  made  a  similar  mistake  to  the  one  so  often 
made  by  the  hornets,  she,  however,  unlike  the  lat- 
ter did  not  mistake  the  nail  for  an  insect,  but  she 
evidently  thought  it  to  be  a  worm  hole  and  the 

ACROBATIC   FEATS 

she  performed  in  trying  to  thrust  her  egg  bearing 
tube  into  the  head  of  the  nail  were  most  laugh- 
able; she  stood  on  her  head  lifting  her  tail  high  in 
the  air  so  as  to  be  able  to  thrust  her  spear  verti- 
cally down,  it  would  not  go;  she  felt  all  around 
the  nail  and  tried  every  device  known  to  her  ex- 


ii4  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

perience  without  results,  for  the  thirty  minutes  and 
more  I  watched  her  before  I  was  called  away. 

At  last  she  faced  about  and  standing  facing  the 
nail  head  she  bent  her  body  up  over  her  head  bring- 
ing the  ovapositor  in  front  where  she  could  watch 
the  process  and  in  this  position  I  left  her  working 
on  the  kitchen  window  sash  of  my  camp. 

The  cook  afterwards  told  me  that  "the  long- 
tailed  fly"  worked  away  until  dark,  until  I  suppose, 
the  metal  head  of  the  nail  had  dulled  her  instru- 
ments to  such  an  extent  that  a  grindstone  would  be 
necessary  to  put  them  again  in  working  order. 

If  the  ichneumon  used  any  reason  at  all  it  rea- 
soned something  like  this:  "This  is  a  piece  of 
wood,  it  has  a  dark  spot  on  it,  my  previous  expe- 
rience has  taught  me  that  the  dark  spots  on  a  piece 
of  wood  are  worm  holes,  therefore  I  should  be 
able  to  thrust  my  ovapositor  in  this  dark  spot." 

The  two  hundred  men,  previously  alluded  to, 
reasoned,  if  they  reasoned  at  all,  in  this  wise: 
Here  is  a  glass,  there  is  something  in  it  that  looks 
like  drink;  our  previous  experience  teaches  us  that 
glasses  on  these  occasions  are  used  to  contain  drink, 
therefore  this  must  be  liquid,  and  we  will  drink  it. 

But,  personally,  I  do  not  believe  that  either  the 
hornet,  the  ichneumon,  or  the  men  upon  these  par- 
ticular occasions  reasoned  at  all,  they  took  things 
"for  granted." 

With  these  facts  in  view  it  is  not  at  all  wonder- 
ful that  birds  and  insects  should  be  easily  deceived 
by  the  objects  resembling  other  things. 


BIRDS  AND  INSECTS  115 

FLY-FISHING    FOR    HORNETS. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  while  fly-fishing  for  bass 
on  the  lake  it  is  no  uncommon  occurrence  to  have 
the  night-hawks  sweep  down  with  a  w-h-r-r-r-r! 
after  the  feather  lures ;  indeed,  upon  more  than  one 
occasion  I  have  jerked  my  fly  away  for  fear  of 
hooking  one  of  these  interesting  and  useful  birds. 
But  the  night-hawk  is  not  the  only  bird  which  will 
take  the  artificial  fly.  All  of  the  fly-catchers, 
phoebe  birds,  king  birds,  or  any  of  their  kin  will 
take  a  fly  as  readily  as  a  trout.  In  the  branches 
overhanging  a  dark,  deep  bass  hole,  where  an 
"old  settler"  of  generous  proportions  used  to  lurk, 
two  gnatcatchers  had  built  thei^  nest,  which  I  only 
discovered  from  the  fact  that  every  time  I  made  a 


HORNETS   IN   FLIGHT 


n6      DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

cast  there,   one  or  both  the  little  birds  made   a 
swoop  for  my  fly. 
Not  only  do  various 

BIRDS  READILY  TAKE  THE  ARTIFICIAL  FLY, 

but  the  big,  black,  paper  nest-building  hornets  will 
dart  at  the  feather-decorated  hook  upon  every  oc- 
casion, and  more  than  once  I  have  had  dragon 
flies  try  to  devour  my  lures  under  the  impression 
that  they  were  real  live  insects. 

At  Whip-poor-will  Cottage,  near  Wild  Lands, 
Pa.,  where  I  am  now  writing,  I  related  the  last  inci- 
dent, and  it  was  met  with  incredulous  smiles.  In 
the  oak  tree  shading  the  door  of  the  camp  is  a 
goodly  sized  paper  balloon  of  a  nest,  occupied  by 
black  hornets,  who  busy  themselves  searching  for 
house  flies.  Piqued  at  the  reception  of  my  story, 
I  proclaimed  the  fact  that  I  would  fool  these  hor- 
nets with  a  picture  of  a  fly,  and  forthwith  drew, 
one  with  a  soft  lead  pencil  on  a  paper  pad,  while 
all  the  "Whip-poor-wills"  sat  round  and  watched. 
It  was  only  a  few  moments  until  a  big  hornet 
pounced  upon  the  picture  fly,  to  the  great  astonish- 
ment of  the  "Whip-poor-wills"  and  my  great  joy, 
for  I  had  never  before  tried  the  experiment,  and  a 
failure  would  have  been  embarrassing. 

THE  DIGGER  WASP. 

One  summer  when  I  was  attempting  to  show 
some  small  boys  how  to  handle  fireworks  with 


BIRDS  AND  INSECTS  117 

safety,  a  pot  of  red  fire  exploded  in  my  face,  blind- 
ing me  for  the  time  and  terribly  burning  my  whole 
face. 

As  I  began  to  recover,  my  appearance  was  such 
as  to  make  me  bashful  and  to  cause  me  to  wish  to 
hide  myself  from  the  sight  of  my  friends.  With 
this  purpose  in  view  I  went  to  Maine  and  located 
there  among  the  farmers.  It  was  while  I  was 
resting  my  shattered  nerves  and  injured  eyes  that 
I  sought  entertainment  in  watching  the  black  Dig- 
ger Wasps  in  the  road-way. 

I  noticed  that  they  first  dug  holes  in  the  hard 
surface  of  the  country  roads  and  then  went  to  seek 
their  prey,  which  was  apparently  "cached"  in  the 
near  neighborhood. 

WHEN  DIGGING  THE   HOLE 

the  wasp  went  down  head  first  and  then  came  out 
backward,  carrying  a  little  pellet  of  earth  in  its 
mouth  which  it  deposited  in  a  heap,  very  much 
after  the  fashion  of  an  ant,  near  by. 

The  game  which  these  black  digger  wasps  cap- 
tured were  grass-hoppers. 

In  some  way  or  manner  the  wasp  has  the  power 
of  benumbing  and  stupefying  its  captives  without 
killing  them.  The  insect  books  say  that  it  is  by 
using  the  sting,  but  while  I  have  frequently  seen 
the  wasp  pounce  upon  its  prey  I  have  never  been 
close  enough  at  the  time  to  say  with  a  certainty 
that  the  thin-waisted  highwayman  uses  its  sting 
upon  its  victim,  though  I  do  know  that  the  vie- 


ii8  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

tim  is  stupefied  by  some  process  so  that  it  can 
neither  walk,  hop,  nor  fly,  but  passively  allows  it- 
self to  be  buried, 

PUT  IN  COLD  STORAGE 

so  to  speak — and  kept  for  the  young  wasp  to  feed 
upon  when  the  egg  is  hatched.  In  order  that  I 
might  more  readily  observe  how  the  black  digger 
proceeded  to  bury  its  victim,  I  sat  down  in  the 
dusty  road  with  my  legs  spread  each  side  of  a  wasp 
hole. 

When  the  digger  arrived  with  a  grass-hopper 
it  seemed  very  much  annoyed  by  my  presence  and 
walked  'round  and  'round,  making  a  threatening 
buzzing  noise,  but  when  it  discovered  that  I  did 
not  molest  it,  it  went  back  to  where  it  had  left 
the  grass-hopper  and  grasping  the  stupefied  insect 
by  the  head  with  its  four  hind  legs,  the  wasp  used 
its  two  front  legs  for  running. 

In  this  manner  the  grass-hopper  was  dragged 
to  the  edge  of  the  hole.  After  reaching  this  point 
the  wasp  entered  the  hole  tail  foremost  and  tak- 
ing hold  of  the  grass-hopper,  this  time  with  its 
front  legs,  with  some  difficulty  and  not  without 
considerable  work,  enlarging  the  hole  at  points 
where  its  narrowness  interfered  with  the  grass- 
hopper's progress,  it  dragged  the  latter  slowly 
out  of  sight;  the  chamber  at  the  bottom  of  the 
hole  must  have  been  larger  than  the  passage,  be- 
cause after  a  time  the  wasp  came  out  again  and  in 
doing  so  it  must  necessarily  have  had  room  to  pass 
around  the  body  of  the  grass-hopper. 


BIRDS  AND  INSECTS  119 

But  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  work  was 
yet  to  come;  in  front  of  the  hole  was  a  little  heap 
of  dirt  which  had  been  deposited  by  the  wasp  while 
making  the  excavation;  this  dirt  must  now  all  be 
replaced  and  I  was  greatly  entertained  by  watch- 
ing and  learning  how  the  wasp  did  this,  I  saw  the 
insect  turn  its  back  to  the  hole  and  working  its 
front  legs,  make  the  dirt  fly 

EXACTLY  LIKE  A  DOG 

when  it  is  digging  the  dirt  for  a  wood-chuck; 
every  once  in  awhile  it  would  stop  digging  the 
dirt  and  peer  down  the  opening,  occasionally  crawl- 
ing in  as  I  rightly  supposed  for  the  purpose  of 
packing  down  the  dirt  inside;  I  say  rightly  sup- 
posed because  as  the  cavity  filled  I  could  see 
exactly  how  she  did  it. 

I  had  my  sketching  pad  on  my  knee  and  made 
drawings  of  the  insect  at  all  stages  of  the  work 
so  that  I  can  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  these  state- 
ments. Whenever  the  wasp  had  what  it  thought 
to  be  a  sufficient  amount  of  dirt  in  its  hole  it  would 
use  its  head  for  a  mallet  and  by  butting  would 
hammer  the  dirt  until  it  was  packed  tightly  in 
place.  It  kept  up  this  process  until  the  hole  was 
completely  filled  up  so  that  no  trace  of  it  was  ap- 
parent. 

One  day  while  we  were  eating  dinner  in  our  log 
house  in  the  woods  of  Pike  County,  Pa.,  we  were 
entertained  by  a  number  of  white-faced  hornets, 
which  were  busy  catching  the  flies  that  hovered 


izo  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

over  the  table.  They  even  caught  the  flies  from 
the  back  of  my  hand  and  lifted  them  gently  from 
the  bald  spot  on  my  head. 

One  hornet  pounced  upon  a  fly  which  was  busy 
rubbing  its  two  front  legs  together,  as  it  clung 
with  the  other  four  to  the  fringe  of  the  tablecloth. 
Buzz  as  the  hornet  would,  it  could  not  carry  away 
that  fly.  It  had  gathered  up  some  fibers  of  cloth 
along  with  its  prey  and,  of  course,  was  unable  to 
pull  the  tablecloth  along  with  it. 

As  I  sat  laughing  at  its  futile  efforts  I  saw  that 
in  its  occasional  pauses  the  hornet  itself  seemed  to 
have  an  idea  as  to  what  held  the  fly,  for  it  would 
nip  off  a  fiber  here  and  there,  and  try  again.  At 
length,  in  despair,  it  ceased  its  efforts  and  devoured 
the  fly  then  and  there.  Afterwards  it  caught 
another  fly  from  the  butter  dish,  and,  with  its  last 
victim  in  its  claws  and  its  first  in  its  stomach,  flew 
triumphantly  out  of  the  window.  There  are  many 

INSECTS  WHICH  WILL  LIVE  IN  CONFINEMENT 

and  make  amusing  pets,  but  the  only  people  I 
know  of  who  make  a  practice  of  keeping  insects 
in  confinement  for  this  purpose  are  the  Japanese. 
However,  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not 
derive  a  lot  of  enjoyment  and  entertainment  from 
captive  native  insects  of  our  own  country.  There 
are  a  number  of  crickets  and  grass-hoppers,  beetles, 
and  aquatic  insects  which  can  be  kept  in  confine- 
ment with  very  little  trouble.  I  once  had 


FIELD  SKETCHES  FROM  LIFE 

I.— Digger  wasp  backing  out  of  hole  with   pellet  of  earth. 

2. — Digger  wasp  running  on  two  front  legs  and  grasping  a  grass- 
hopper with  its  four  hind  legs. 

3. — Digger  wasp  pulling  a   grasshopper  into  the  pit  dug  for  it. 

4- — Digger   wasp    scratching   dirt    like    a    dog   with    its   front   legs. 

5. — Digger  wasp  using  its  head  to  ram  down  the  earth. 

6. — Cocoon  of  a  Samia  cynthia  moth. 

7- — Cecronia   moth   shortly    after   emerging  from   its   cocoon. 

8.— The  "White  Death"  catching  a  Heman's  moth— under  side  of 
spider.  Back  view  and  enlarged  diagram  showing  crescent  arrange- 
ment of  eyes. 

9- — An  orange-colored  spider,  showing,  in  the  enlarged  view  of  its 
body,  the  Oriental  rug  pattern  of  its  decorations. 


122  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

A   LARGE   KATYDID 

which  I  caught  in  the  back  yard  late  in  the  fall, 
I  gave  it  the  freedom  of  my  library  and  it  became 
very  tame,  would  feed  from  my  hand  and  lived 
through  the  winter  until  after  the  Christmas  holi- 
days; then  it  met  an  untimely  death  by  creeping 
into  the  open  fireplace  to  keep  warm  and  being 
scorched  to  death  in  the  morning  when  the  fire 
was  lighted. 

A  friend  of  mine  used  to  amuse  himself  by  keep- 
ing captive  basket  caterpillars  on  the  desk  where 
he  worked. 

THE  BASKET  CATERPILLAR 

had  been  fastened  by  a  short  thread,  one  end  being 
attached  to  the  cone  of  the  basket  and  the  other 
end  to  a  pin  which  was  driven  in  the  desk  in  the 
yard  master's  office  of  the  O.  &  M.  R.  R.  This 
allowed  the  prisoner  to  creep  only  the  length  of 
the  string  and  the  poor  thing  traveled  for  hours 
around  and  around  the  circle  described  by  the 
radius  of  the  thread. 

After  a  time  my  informant  noticed  that  the 
caterpillar  had  ceased  its  monotonous  crawling  and 
had  retired  to  the  seclusion  of  its  basket  home. 
While  he  was  examining  it,  the  caterpillar's  head 
suddenly  peered  through  a  hole  which  it  had  made 
in  the  top  of  the  basket.  Finding  the  thread,  it 
bit  it  apart  and  freed  itself.  With  its  own  silk  it 
carefully  mended  the  hole  in  the  apex  of  the  cone, 
and,  after  again  turning  a  somersault  inside  of 


BIRDS  AND  INSECTS  123 

the  basket,  the  little  head  once  more  appeared  at 
the  proper  aperture. 

The  caterpillar  was  allowed  to  crawl  away  to 
its  well-earned  freedom,  still  burdened  with  its 
conical  snail-like  house  tottering  on  its  back. 

When  I  visited  the  Rev.  Dr.  McCook  of  Phila- 
delphia and  was  shown  to  his  library  I  found  it 

INHABITED  BY  SPIDERS 

of  all  sorts,  and  shapes  and  forms,  and  their  webs 
stretched  over  the  books,  making  many  passages 
from  one  end  of  the  library  table  to  the  other  and 
suspension  bridges  across  the  chasms  formed  be- 
tween the  piles  of  books. 

Besides  these  loose  spiders  there  were  numerous 
other  ones  confined  in  glass-covered  boxes.  I  sup- 
pose these  spiders  were  tame,  for  they  showed  no 
alarm  at  my  presence  and  they  were  probably  the 
pets  of  the  Doctor  who  has  written  so  much  in- 
teresting matter  about  spiders,  ants,  and  other  in- 
sects. 

I  have  never  tried  to  tame  an  oyster  or  a 
clam,  but  as  far  as  my  experience  goes  I  believe 
that  anything  with  intelligence  enough  to  live  on 
this  earth  also  possesses  intelligence  enough  to 
learn  to  know  its  friends  and  that  is  all  the  intelli- 
gence required  to  make  it  tamable. 

FEROCIOUS  SPIDERS. 

The  mention  of  Dr.  McCook's  spiders  recalls 
to  mind  some  interesting  experiments  performed 


124  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

by  some  young  men  with  these  creatures.  It  seems 
that  one  of  them,  not  knowing  the  solitary  habits 
of  the  spider,  and  the  fierce  manner  it  has  of  re- 
senting intrusion  by  any,  member  of  its  own  race, 
attempted  to  collect  a  number  of  the  various  kinds 
to  be  found  in  the  woods  near  my  camp  and  keep 
them  together. 

The  interesting  time  came  when  a  job  lot  of 
spiders  had  been  put  in  confinement  together,  and 
it  was  evident  that  every  mother's  son  of  them 
looked  upon  every  other  one  as  his  mortal  foe,  I 
say  "his"  but  the  truth  is  a  number  of  these  pug- 
nacious creatures  were  females,  the  matter  of  sex, 
however,  seemed  to  make  little  difference  in  their 
treatment  of  each  other.  There  was  one  great  big 
hairy  old  lady  spider  who  had  an  exceedingly  bad 
temper.  She  was  a  wood  spider  and  when  caught 
she  was  bearing  a  large  white  cocoon  or  silken  bag 
filled  with  her  precious  babies.  By  means  of  a 
stick  she  had  been 

SEPARATED  FROM  HER  BAG  OF  BABIES 

and  her  grief  did  not  tend  to  soften  her  temper; 
in  fact  she  was  so  ugly,  brave,  and  vicious  that  she 
would  jump  at  one's  hand  if  it  was  brought  near 
her.  She,  however,  remained  in  one  corner  while 
the  other  spiders  sparred  for  a  good  lead  by  which 
they  might  take  advantage  of  each  other.  There 
were  a  number  of  deaths  in  the  box  before  night- 
fall, but  the  hairy  old  wood  spider  took  no  part  in 
the  fights  What  she  did  at  night  we  can  only 


BIRDS  AND  INSECTS  125 

imagine,  for  in  the  morning  she  was  the  sole  sur- 
vivor. This  so  aroused  the  admiration  of  one 
of  the  young  men  that  he  immediately  proclaimed 
that  his  spider  could 

WHIP  ANY  SPIDER  IN  THE  WOODS  ! 

The  challenge  was  accepted  by  several  of  the 
other  campers  who  immediately  set  to  work  to 
scour  the  stumps  and  stones  and  trails  in  search 
of  gladiators.  Learning  that  I  had  a  big  white 
spider  at  my  camp,  one  of  the  lads  came  over  and 
borrowed  it  and  I  afterwards  learned  to  what  use 
he  put  it. 

The  white  spider  appeared  to  be  an  expert  in  the 
art  of  Jiujitsu  and  it  slew  all  comers  until  a  little 
unknown  spider  which  the  boys  named  "Teddy" 
was  introduced  in  the  arena.  Not  only  did  the 
white  spider  bite  with  fatal  results,  but  it  had  a 
mean  way  of  disabling  its  foes  by  amputating  their 
legs;  it  cut  all  the  legs  off  of  the  big  wood  spider 
and  left  it  unable  to  move.  Whenever  the  "white 
death"  was  put  in  with  its  fellows  their  limbs 
strewed  the  field. 

The  little  strange  spider  called  Teddy  after  los- 
ing two  legs,  killed  the  "White  Death"  as  the  boys 
called  my  pet,  and  it  was  the  death  of  the  "White 
Death"  that  the  lads  had  to  explain,  which  gave 
me  the  interesting  account  of  the  failure  of  their 
collection,  as  such,  and  its  success  as  a  gladiatorial 
contest;  I  saw  the  battle  ground  and  the  carnage 
but  did  not  witness  the  conflict.  You  can  make  pets 


126 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK: 


THE  "WHITE  DEATH"  CATCHING  A  BUMBLEBEE. 
SKETCHED    FROM    LIFE 

of  spiders  as  I  have  often  done,  but  they  will  not 
tolerate  companions  of  their  own  kind  in  their  con- 
finement. 

It  is  not  at  all  difficult  to  deceive  human  beings, 
with  either  fake  animals,  or  fake  animal  stories, 
of  course  there  are  some  people  who  will  not  be- 
lieve anything  that  they  have  not  seen  with  their 
own  eyes,  and  these  are  the  ones  whom  you  can 
most  easily  deceive,  even  with  home  manufactured 
artificial  animals.  When  I  was  a  lad  in  Painsville, 
Ohio,  I  made 


BIRDS  AND  INSECTS  127 

A  SPIDER   OF  CHEWING  GUM, 

painted  its  body  with  brilliant  colors  from  my 
father's  paints  and  slyly  stuck  its  legs  to  a  show 
case  in  a  hat  store,  then  lounged  around  until  some 
one  chanced  to  see  it. 

It  created  a  great  sensation  and  the  proprietor 
of  the  store  called  his  neighbors  in  to  see  the  won- 
derful big  spider.  No  one  doubted  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  thing  and  when  at  last  one  of  the 
spectators  poked  at  it  with  a  cane  and  pushed  it 
from  its  perch  the  wax  spider  fell  to  the  floor  and 
its  legs  broke  into  fragments  to  the  great  astonish- 
ment of  all  the  spectators  none  of  whom  even  then 
doubted  that  it  was  a  real  live  spider  and  they 
would  not  believe  that  it  was  an  imitation  until  I 
picked  it  up  in  my  hands,  softened  it  by  my  warm 
breath  and  rolled  it  into  a  shapeless  mass  between 
my  fingers. 

When  but  a  small  boy  in  Kentucky  I  often 
amused  myself  with  modeling 

HUGE  LIZARDS  OF  BLUE  CLAY, 

drying  them  in  the  sun  and  then  placing  them  on 
the  neighbor's  door  steps,  ringing  the  door  bell  and 
hiding  to  watch  results.  None  of  the  neighbors  sus- 
pected that  they  were  but  clay  lizards,  but  without 
exception  they  one  and  all  mistook  them  for  live 
reptiles.  I  am  willing,  however,  to  swear  that  no 
such  lizards  as  my  awkward  boyish  hands  had 
fashioned  ever  lived  on  this  earth ;  yet  to  the  great 


128  DAN   BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

delight  of  myself  and  the  other  boys  I  had  let  into 
the  secret,  the  good  people  tried  to  kill  the  clumsy 
clay  things  with  sticks. 


CHAPTER  IX 


A  GREAT  NOSE 

A  GREAT  NOSE — FIRST  OPPORTUNITY  TO  SKETCH  A  LIVE  SEA- 
COW — HOW  A  SEA-COW  LOOKS — ITS  BAG-LIKE  BODY  AND 
ITS  SMALL  HEAD — THE  FINNED  MAMALIA,  WOMAN  FISH, 
COUSIN  TO  THE  LITTLE  BEARDED  MAN — THE  ADVENTURE 
OF  MR.  DIMOCK  WITH  A  TWELVE-FOOT  MANATEE — A  SEA- 
COW  THAT  KNEW  ITS  KEEPER — USE  OF  THE  HIDE,  ITS  OIL 
AND  FAT — HUMBOLDT  LIKED  MANATEE  MEAT — A  SCHEME 
FOR  MAKING  USE  OF  OUR  IDLE  RICH,  WHY  NOT  A  MANATEE 
RANCH. 

The  mosquitoes  were  singing,  with  a  noise  re- 
sembling the  sound  of  a  distant  saw-mill  and  they 
floated  in  spiral  columns  like  steam  clouds  above 
the  bastard  palmettoes  on  the  shore;  water  tur- 
keys with  snake-like  necks  were  swimming  in  the 
stream,  while  living  rafts  of  ducks  floated  on  the 
smooth  surface  of  the  water  just  out  of  gun  shot. 
This  was  before  the  days  when  our  fashionable 
women  had  murdered  all  the  white  herons  to  fur- 
nish "aigrettes"  for  their  criminally  ignorant  heads 
and  the  beautiful  white  egrets  boldly  displayed 
their  slender  and  graceful  forms,  their  dazzling 
white  plumage  making  conspicuous  spots  in  the 
green  marsh  and  on  the  dark  mud  banks. 

As  my  boat  idly  drifted  with  the  tide  the  al- 
129 


130  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ligators  would  slip  from  the  banks  or  fall  with  a 
splash  from  water  logged  tree  trunks  into  the 
stream  and  swim  away,  conspicuously  displaying 
the  black  and  yellow  markings  of  their  armor- 
plated  tails.  Stretched  prone  upon  the  bottom  of 
my  boat  with  my  chin  hanging  over  the  gunwale 
lazily  watching  the  water,  I  noticed  that  between 
me  and  the  shore  some  floating  weed  or  grass 
was  moving  in  apparently  an  unaccountable  man- 
ner; not  only  did  the  floating  vegetation  move  with- 
out regard  to  the  direction  of  the  tide,  but  por- 
tions of  it  constantly  disappeared  beneath  the  flood ; 
presently  there  was  a  ripple  on  the  smooth  surface 
of  the  water  near  the  floating  grass  and 

A  GREAT  NOSE,   WITH   COW-LIKE   NOSTRILS 

and  stiff  bristles  startled  me  as  it  appeared  above 
the  surface;  it  was  visible  but  a  moment  before 
it  disappeared  and  then  a  bulky  shadowy  form 
could  be  seen  swiftly  and  noiselessly  gliding  away 
under  water.  There  was  no  chance  to  make 
sketches  of  this  thing,  and  the  modern  snapshot 
camera  was  not  then  invented,  but  I  retained  a  men- 
tal photograph  of  that  nose  in  my  mind. 

It  was  at  the  old  New  York  Aquarium  that  I 
first  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  at  close  quarters 
and  make  drawings  of  a  live  sea-cow.  That  was 
years  ago  when  the  institution  was  located  on  what 
is  now  known  as  Herald  Square.  When  I  first  came 
to  New  York,  along  with  my  other  work,  I  was  il- 
lustrating and  writing  natural  history  articles  for 


A  GREAT  NOSE 


MAMMA    HIPPO 

the  Scientific  American  and  I  entered  the  Aquarium  • 
for  the  purpose  of  sketching  the 

GREAT  SEA-COW  OF  FLORIDA. 

Passing  the  many  tanks,  allowing  the  finny  oc- 
cupants to  swim  and  flop  unnoticed,  I  proceeded 
straight  to  the  pit  formerly  occupied  by  a  baby 
hippopotamus.  As  I  stood  looking  into  the  vat 
there  was  a  disturbance  in  the  water  and  again  I 
saw  a  cow-like  nose  armed  with  stiff  bristles  ap- 
pear for  a  moment  above  the  surface  and  then 
sink  out  of  sight;  this  was  all  that  happened  to 
tell  me  that  the  tank  was  occupied  and  all  that 
could  be  seen,  until  through  the  kindness  of  the 
keeper  the  water  was  drawn  from  the  tank. 

As  the  water  lowered,  an  apparently  shapeless 
mass,  enveloped  in  a  wrinkled,  slate-colored  skin, 


i32  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

with  white  bristles  scattered  sparsely  over  it,  was 
disclosed.  When  the  tank  was  almost  dry,  I  could 
get  a  fair  view  of  its  occupant,  and  found  it  to  be 
a  large,  uncouth  animal,  somewhat  resembling  a 
seal  in  shape,  but  with  the  hind  limbs  replaced  by 
a  broad,  fleshy  tail  or  caudal  fin,  and  two  flippers 
in  front  corresponding  to  forelegs;  but  really  the 
animal  looked  more  like  an  animated  leather  bag 
than  anything  else. 

Bent  down,  with  its  nose  upon  the  bottom  of  the 
tank,  was 

A  RATHER  SMALL  HEAD 

with  an  odd,  wrinkled  countenance.  As  the  huge, 
unwieldly  monster  moved,  its  body  became  corru- 
gated with  large  wrinkles. 

This  was  a  Florida  manatee,  the  first  live  speci- 
men of  this  animal  ever  exhibited  in  New  York 
City  and  the  accompanying  drawings,  I  believe, 
are  the  first  published  sketches  made  from  a  live 
specimen  of  the  seacow  of  Florida,  the  finned 
"mamalia,"  the  "woman  fish"  of  the  Spaniards,  and 
a  cousin  to  the  little  "bearded  man"  of  the  Dutch. 

Not  long  ago,  my  good  friend,  Mr.  Dimock, 
spent  six  hours  in  the  water  with  a  twelve-foot 
manatee,  which  he  was  endeavoring  to  persuade 
to  take  a  trip  north  and  exhibit  itself  to  the  crowd 
at  the  New  York  Aquarium.  Mr.  Dimock  was 
successful  in  anchoring  the  manatee;  but  while  he 
was  making  preparation  to  ship  the  animal  north, 
it  made  its  escape.  It  will  be  interesting  to  the 
"old"  boys  to  know  that  this  gentleman  who  could 


STUDIES  MADE   FROM  LIVE  SEA-COW 


aras  appear 


like  flippers. 

3.  —  Profile   of   head. 

4.  —  Front   face. 

5.  —  Showing   mouth,    chin  and  neck. 

6.  —  Profile  of  head. 

7.  —  Hand. 


134  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

spend  six  hours  in  the  water  struggling  with  a 
twelve-foot  manatee  had  passed  his  sixtieth  birth- 
day. 

The  manatee  is  entirely  harmless,  docile,  readily 
tamed  and  the  one  I  sketched  evidently  knew  its 
keeper,  and  would  move  awkwardly  around  to 
meet  him  when  he  waded  into  the  tank. 

THE  SEA-COW'S  HEAD 

is  round  and  on  the  muzzle  are  a  number  of 
bristles,  each  of  which  is  said  to  connect  with  the 
brain  by  a  nerve.  No  opening  to  the  ears  could 
be  detected  from  a  position  outside  the  tank.  The 
eyes  are  so  minute  that  they  are  hidden  by  folds 
of  skin.  The  hands  of  the  manatee  have  five  nails 
(see  sketch  in  illustration).  The  structure  of  the 
bones  allows  the  hand  to  turn  in  any  direction  at 
pleasure. 

In  the  study  of  the  top  view,  or  back  of  the 
animal,  the  hands  are  doubled  underneath  so  that 
the  arms  resemble  fins. 

The  tail  is  about  one-quarter  of  the  length  of 
the  body,  and  in  this  specimen  3^2  feet  was  just  the 
width  of  the  body  at  its  broadest  part.  The  skin 
is  remarkably  thick  and  tough.  It  is  used  in  the 
place  of  rawhide  or  leather  in  the  manufacture  of 
articles  where  great  strength  is  required.  I  have 
seen  a  walking  cane  made  from  the  skin  of  a 
manatee,  killed  at  the  head  of  navigation  in  the 
Magdalena  River,  in  South  America. 


A  GREAT  NOSE  135 

The  oil  from  the  fat  is  free  from  that  rancid 
odor  common  to  most  animal  oils,  and  is  held  in 
high  esteem.  The  flesh  is  edible,  and  pronounced 
by  Humboldt  and  others,  sweet  and  palatable. 
When  salted  and  sun-dried  it  will  keep  for  a  year 
or  more.  By  Catholics  it  is  considered  fish,  and 
eaten  by  them  on  fast  days. 

The  true  manatees  are  confined  to  the  Atlantic 
side  of  America.  The  largest  species  is  found  in  the 
United  States  upon  the  Florida  coast;  a  smaller 
kind  inhabits  some  of  the  rivers  in  South  America. 

The  manatee  is  placed  by  Cuvier  among  the 
cetaceans  (whales),  but  Prof.  Agassiz  compared 
the  skull  of  one  with  that  of  the  mastodon  and 
with  that  of  the  elephant,  and  in  a  discourse  before 
the  American  Society  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,  over  a  very  perfect  skeleton,  he  proved 
that  Cuvier  was  wrong  in  many  of  his  statements 
regarding  the  anatomy  of  the  manatee,  and  ended 
by  pronouncing  it  an  embryo  type  of  the  thick- 
skinned  animals,  such  as  the  elephant,  hippopota- 
mus, etc. 

By  domesticating  and  rearing  Florida  sea-cows 
for  the  market  there  is  an  opportunity  for  some 
people  of  wealth  to  find  occupation  and  win  fame 
far  more  lasting  than  that  gained  by  society  notices 
in  the  newspapers.  It  is  possible  that  they  could 
save  from  extinction  a  very  valuable  food  animal 
and  benefit  humanity  by  adding  a  new  and  valuable 
domestic  animal  to  its  lists.  Just  think  what  fun 
it  would  be ! 


136  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

The  sea-cow's  pasture  is  all  under  water  and 
any  lagoon  in  the  district  inhabited  by  these  ani- 
mals might  be  fenced  in  by  a  strong  net  anchored 
across  one  end  and  would  make  a  novel 
cattle  ranch;  but  I  am  afraid  that  none  of  our  idle 
rich  is  possessed  with  high  enough  ideals  to  at- 
tempt the  domestication  of  any  sort  of  wild  animals 
and  if  our  native  creatures  are  to  be  saved  from 
annihilation  it  must  be  done  by  the  common  people 
through  their  government  or  by  clubs,  and  societies 
of  the  people  formed  for  that  purpose. 

At  Behrings  and  Copper  Islands,  away  up  in  the 
cold  arctic  country,  there  formerly  existed  a  very 
large  cousin  of  the  manatee,  known  as  the  rhytina. 
When  Behring  was  on  the  island  he  had  with  him 
an  enthusiastic  German  naturalist  by  the  name  of 
Stella,  and  it  was  this  German  who  published  the 
first  description  of  the  rhytina.  Twenty-seven 
years  after  these  animals  were  discovered  there 
was  not  one  left;  the  crews  of  the  whalers  had 
killed  and  eaten  all  the  rhytina  that  there  were  in 
the  world  and  wiped  this  useful  food  animal  com- 
pletely out  of  existence,  just  as  the  modern  whalers 
are  at  this  very  moment  killing  and  eating  all  the 
remaining  musk-ox  in  the  north  country. 

It  never  occurred  to  the  people  in  the  olden 
times  to  leave  enough  of  these  animals  alive 
to  keep  up  the  stock,  and  it  does  not  oc- 
cur to  our  frontier  people  today  to  leave  any- 
thing alive  which  can  be  used  for  fresh 
meat;  that  the  rhytina  might  be  transported  and 


A  GREAT  NOSE  137 

planted  around  other  desert  islands  in  the  same 
region  is  an  idea  too  altruistic,  too  advanced  and 
too  practical  to  occur  to  the  men  in  Behring's  time. 
There  is  still  another  creature  which  is  classed 
by  the  scientist  with  the  American  manatee  under 
the  family  name  of  sirenia,  and  this  is  the  dugong, 
a  name  which  the  Malays  have  given  it.  The  du- 
gong is  reported  to  be  found  in  the  Red  Sea,  East- 
ern Africa,  Mauritius,  Malacca,  the  Indian  Archi- 
pelagos, and  on  the  west  coast  of  Australia.  All 
this  and  much  more  you  can  find  in  any  up-to-date 
natural  history.  Personally  I  have  never  seen  a 
dugong  and  I  am  too  young  to  have  ever  met  a 
live  rhytina,  and  while  I  have  made  illustrations 
of  these  last  two  animals,  they  were  made  uout  of 
my  head"  and  the  pictures  published  unsigned,  in 
the  good  old  box-wrood  days  when  nobody  ques- 
tioned any  nature  fakir's  work,  whether  it  was  a 
book  or  a  picture.  Ah !  those  were  great  days  for 
the  engravers  if  not  for  the  illustrators.  The  lat- 
ter made  pictures  as  the  engravers  directed  and  the 
engravers  knew  as  much  about  natural  history  as  a 
cow  does  about  Christian  Science. 


CHAPTER  X 


THE  OLD  UPTOWN  AQUARIUM 

THE  OLD  UPTOWN  AQUARIUM — BABY  ELEPHANT  FROM  JAVA — 
THE  TROUBLES  OF  AN  ARTIST  WITH  THE  HAIRY  ELEPHANTS 
—PUNISHING  A  REBELLIOUS  MODEL— THE  BAD  ELEPHANT'S 
REVENGE — HOW  AN  ELEPHANT  LAUGHS — THE  CAMEL  THAT 
TRIED  TO  GET  IN  THE  ARTIST'S  LAP — MURDEROUS  TRICKS 
OF  OLD  ELEPHANTS — JUMBO,  THE  GOOD  NATURED — TREAT- 
ING THE  COMPLEXION  OF  THE  WHITE  ELEPHANT,  AND  THE 
COSMETICS  USED  ON  JUMBO. 

The  old  Aquarium  which  used  to  stand  where 
Herald  Square  is  now  was  a  most  interesting  place 
and  there  were  often  things  there  which  neither 
could  be  called  mermaids  or  fishes.  At  one  time 
they  had  a  couple  of  little  baby  elephants  from 
somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  Java.  They 
were  advertised  I  believe  as 

HAIRY  ELEPHANTS 

or  dwarf  elephants.  At  any  rate  I  went  there  to 
make  some  sketches  of  them  and  the  keeper  kindly 
furnished  me  with  a  chair  inside  the  enclosure 
where  the  little  things  were  kept;  he  then  went  off 
about  his  business,  leaving  me  to  my  own  devices. 
I  put  the  chair  down  in  the  straw;  seating  myself, 
I  began  to  work,  but  as  usual  when  sketching  ani- 
mals my  models  did  not  choose  to  pose.  The  lit- 

138 


TWO  B\BV  ELEPHANTS  SKETCHED  AT  THE  OLD  AQUARIUM 
—SO-CALLED   "HAIRY  ELEPHANTS" 


i4o  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

tie  elephants  were  about  as  tall  as  an  ordinary 
table,  but  they  were  strong  and 

HAD   WILLS   OF   THEIR   OWN. 

Both  of  them  exhibited  the  keenest  curosity  and 
insisted  upon  looking  over  my  shoulder  while  I 
was  working.  I  suppose  very  few  of  my  readers 
are  art  students,  but  such  of  them  who  paint  and 
draw  from  live  objects  will  at  once  see  the  impos- 
sibility of  making  a  sketch  with  one's  models  look- 
ing over  one's  shoulder.  I  tried  to  push  the  baby 
elephants  away,  but  they  did  not  or  would  not  un- 
derstand. Then  I  got  down  on  my  knees,  and 
pushing  with  all  my  strength  succeeded  in  placing 
one  of  the  little  brutes  in  position;  this  made  the 
other  one  very  jealous  and  it  crowded  my  chosen 
model  out  of  position  so  I  took  my  drawing  pad 
and 

SLAPPED  THE   DEFIANT   ELEPHANT 

over  the  head,  driving  it  to  a  position  behind  my 
chair,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  other  baby,  who 
now  seemed  to  understand  what  was  expected  of 
it  and  proudly  held  its  pose.  I  sketched  hastily, 
as  one  must  when  dealing  with  such  models,  sup- 
plementing my  drawing  with  written  pencil  notes, 
and  just  as  I  became  absorbed  in  my  work 

THE  BAD  LITTLE  ELEPHANT 

behind  me  slyly  curled  its  funny  little  trunk  around 
the  leg  of  my  chair  and  then  with  a  quick  pull  re- 
moved the  chair,  leaving  me  sprawling  on  my  back 


THE  OLD  UPTOWN  AQUARIUM  141 

in  the  straw  with  my  legs  spread  out  and  feet  over 
my  head. 

It  was  just  at  this  moment  that  Mrs.  Olive 
Thorne  Miller,  the  celebrated  writer  of  books  on 
birds,  came  in  and  looking  over  the  railing  smiled 
sweetly  as  she  said:  "How  do  you  do,  Mr. 
Beard."  I  did  not  take  off  my  hat  to  the  lady  for 
the  reason  that  the  elephant  had  already  done  that 
for  me. 

I  do  not  know  that 

AN  ELEPHANT  LAUGHS 

or  that  scientists  will  admit  that  they  are  ever  guilty 
of  such  an  expression  of  mirth,  but  I  do  know  that 
when  I  regained  my  seat  both  of  those  little  imps 
came  up  to  me  and  throwing  their  trunks  back  over 
their  heads  and  opening  wide  their  mouths  they 
thrust  their  faces  close  to  mine  and  made  a  noise 
like  this :  Sh — a — s — s — s — s !  and  it  would  take 
a  strong  argument  to  convince  me  that  this  was 
not  an  elephantine  laugh.  It  was  only  after  a  con- 
tinued vaudeville  performance  during  which  I 
played  the  clown  and  the  elephants  took  the  part 
of  ring  master  that  I  succeeded  in  making  the  rude 
sketches  preserved  to  this  time  and  here  repro- 
duced. 

There  used  to  be  a 

WEE  BABY  CAMEL 

up  at  Central  Park  which  was  fondled  by  every- 
body. The  baby  grew  rapidly,  but  seemed  to  be 
unconscious  of  that  fact,  and  when  my  brother,  J. 


142  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Carter  Beard,  went  up  to  the  Park  to  make  a 
sketch  of  it  he  found  that  the  animal  had  grown 
to  be  a  long-legged  youth.  Mr.  Beard  had  not 
taken  his  seat,  however,  before  this  big  thing 

ATTEMPTED  TO  GET  INTO  HIS  LAP. 

My  brother  is  quite  a  stout  gentleman  and  has 
not  any  lap  worth  mentioning,  so  when  the  almost 
full-grown  camel  tried  to  climb  aboard,  the  chair 
gave  away  and  chair,  man  and  camel  rolled  over 
the  ground  to  the  great  delight  of  the  spectators 
who  had  gathered  around  the  enclosure  to  watch 
an  artist  at  his  work.  There  are  always  more  or 
less  humorous  incidents  in  the  work  of  sketching 
live  animals,  often  exciting  and  sometimes  even 
dangerous,  but  I  know  of  no  serious  accidents  ever 
happening  to  animal  painters  and  illustrators  while 
engaged  in  their  chosen  work. 

If  baby  elephants  are  playful  with  the  artist, 
the  full-grown  elephants  are  not  at  all  inclined 
that  way,  at  least  I  have  not  found  them  so, 
for  whenever  I  have  attempted  to  sketch  them  I 
have  been  compelled  to  keep  on  the  alert  to  save 
myself  from  serious  consequences.  The  old  fel- 
lows will  usually  stand 

SWAYING  THEIR  BIG  HEADS, 

apparently  not  seeing  the  artist  busy  at  his  work, 
but  their  wicked  little  eyes  are  watching  for  an 
opportunity  to  injure  him.  This  they  will  not  do 
openly  .for  fear  of  their  keeper,  but  I  have  had 
them  more  than  once  slyly  manoeuver  to  get  me 


THE  OLD  UPTOWN  AQUARIUM  143 

between  them  and  a  wall  in  such  a  position  that 
they  could  work  their  huge  body  around  and  crush 
me  against  the  wall  without  apparently  intending 
to  do  so.  If,  in  place  of  being  in  their  winter 
quarters  they  happen  to  be  under  their  summer 
canvas,  then  I  must  watch  them  for  fear  of  being 
stepped  upon.  They  have  numerous  other  tricks 
"up  their  sleeve"  by  which  they  can  make  life  un- 
comfortable or  even  squeeze  it  out  entirely  from 
the  body  of  an  ambitious  artist,  and  they  try  to  do 
it  in  an  apparently  accidental  manner.  I 
am  not  speaking  here  of  vicious  elephants,  but  of 
the  ordinary  circus  animal,  in  truth  the  only  ele- 
phant in  whose  society  I  have  felt  at  all  safe  was 
poor  old  Jumbo.  Jumbo  was  an  African  elephant, 
but  whether  that  had  anything  to  do  with  his  good 
disposition  or  not  I  am  unable  to  state. 
When  they  had 

THE  "WHITE"  ELEPHANT 

they  used  to  scrub  it  and  scrape  its  toe  nails  to 
make  it  appear  as  light  colored  as  possible;  the 
effect  was  also  greatly  heightened  by  a  pink  elec- 
tric light.  To  make  the  "white"  elephant  appear 
still  lighter  in  color,  poor  old  Jumbo  was  painted 
with  a  coat  of  lamp  black  and  grease  or  some 
similar  substance;  this  made  the  contrast  between 
the  two,  when  standing  together,  quite  noticeable, 
but  I  doubt  that  there  would  have  been  much  dif- 
ference in  their  color  if  the  two  elephants  had  been 
turned  out  to  pasture  for  a  week  or  two. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  FIRST  LIVE  MUSK-OX  EVER    SEEN  IN   NEW 
YORK 

CAPTAIN  BODFISH  OF  THE  GOOD  SHIP  BELUGA — THE  FIRST  LIVE 
MUSK-OX  EVER  SEEN  IN  NEW  YORK — FATE  OF  ITS  COM- 
PANIONS— ITS  TRAVELS  FROM  SAN  FRANCISCO  TO  NEW  YORK 
CITY — THE  FIRST  SKETCHES  FROM  A  LIVE  MUSK-OX  EVER 
PUBLISHED — LOCKED  UP  IN  THE  CAGE  WITH  THE  MUSK-OX 
— DESCRIPTION  OF  " OLIVE"  AND  THE  PLACE  WHERE  SHE 
BELONGS — JIBES  OF  THE  CROWD — ADAPTED  BY  NATURE  TO 
COLD  COUNTRIES — THE  MUSK-OX  SHOULD  BE  PROTECTED 
AND  DOMESTICATED — "  BUFFALO"  JONES*  HEROIC  EF- 
FORTS— WOLVES  SLAY  HIS  DOG  AND  INDIANS  SLAY  HIS 
CALVES. 

All  Arctic  travelers  and  natives  know  Captain 
Bodfish  of  the  good  ship  Beluga,  so  also  do  those 
New  Yorkers  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  be 
counted  among  the  members  of  the  old  Camp 
Fire  Club. 

Captain  Bodfish  is 

A  VETERAN  WHALER 

and  spends  his  winters  on  the  northwest  coast  of 
the  American  continent  with  his  ship  frozen  in  the 
ice  in  some  protected  cove  well  known  to  the  ad- 
venturous sailor. 

144 


LIVE  MUSK-OX—TWENTY-ONE  MONTHS  OLD,  CAPTURED  BY 

CAPTAIN   BODFISH   AND    SKETCHED    BY   THE 

AUTHOR,    MARCH,    1907 


146  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

It  was  while  his  steam  whaler  Beluga  was  win- 
tering in  the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Bathhurst  that 
a  party  of  the  captain's  Eskimo  hunters  ventured 
inland  about  thirty  miles  to  a  point  north  of  Great 
Bear  Lake  and  there  captured 

THE  FIRST  LIVE  MUSK-OX 

ever  seen  in  New  York.  Indeed  the  flat-faced, 
fur-clad  hunters  captured  four  live  musk-ox 
"calves,"  if  their  parents  belong  to  the  ox  family, 
or  "lambs,"  if  it  is  decided  that  the  musk-ox  is  a 
sheep.  But  whatever  the  position  in  which  scientists 
may  finally  decide  to  place  these  queer  northern 
animals  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  were  young 
ones. 

The  wolfish  dogs  belonging  to  the  Eskimos 
killed  two  of  the  captives  before  the  thirty  miles 
had  been  traveled  necessary  to  reach  the  ship  and 
on  board  the  ship  the  same  wolfish  animals  killed 
another,  leaving  only 

ONE  SURVIVOR, 

which  was  exhibited  in  November,  1901,  in  San 
Francisco,  from  there  it  went  to  Chicago,  thence 
to  New  York,  where  I  found  it  in  a  cage  at  the 
Sportsmen's  Show,  and  where  William  C.  Whit- 
ney paid  $1,600  for  it  and  then  generously  pre- 
sented it  to  the  New  York  Zoological  Park,  where 
it  died. 

At  the  present  writing  only  three  specimens  of 
the  mu$k-ox  have  ever  reached  civilization.  In 


FIRST  LIVE  MUSK-OX  IN  NEW  YORK         147 

1899  a  Swedish  exploring  exposition  captured  two 
on  the  eastern  coast  of  Greenland,  both  of  which 
were  sold  to  the  wild  animal  man,  Carl  Hagenbeck, 
of  Hamburg.  The  Duke  of  Bedford  bought  one  of 
these  from  Hagenbeck  and  the  Berlin  Zoological 
Garden  bought  the  other.  As  far  as  I  know 

THE  SKETCHES 

here  published  are  the  first  ones  ever  made  from  a 
live  musk-ox. 

To  make  these  drawings  I  had  to  enter  the  cage 
with  the  animal,  and  I  must  say  that  I  found  it  as 
gentle  and  well  behaved  a  young  lady  as  ever  posed 
for  me;  she  was  at  that  time  (March,  1902) 
twenty-one  months  old.  "Olive,"  as  they  called  her 
up  at  the  Zoo,  stood  two  feet  three  inches  high 
at  the  shoulder,  with  a  total  length  of  four  feet 
ten  inches,  as  measured  by  Mr.  Hornaday.  She 
had  short  ears,  protected  inside  and  out  by  a  thick 
growth  of  woolly  hair,  the  actual  length  of  the  ear, 
according  to  my  measurement  was  four  and  seven- 
tenths  inches.  She  wore  a  thick  woolly  coat  with 
long  hair  on  the  outside  to  shed  the  sleet  and  rain. 
There  was  a  thick  mane  like  a  long  cushion  reach- 
ing from  the  back  of  her  head  to  a  point  back  of 
her  shoulders.  The  hair  was  long  and  thick  around 
her  throat,  protecting  the  neck  and  hanging  down 
over  her  legs  to  her  knees.  The  general  color  was 
a  dark  brown,  with  a  yellowish  white  short  hair 
upon  the  exposed  part  of  the  legs,  and  a  gray 
streak  on  the  head  extending  from  one  horn  to  the 


H8  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

other,  also  a  gray  place  extending  from  the  end 
of  the  mane  to  the  tail.  When 

OLIVE  GENTLY  LICKED  MY  HAND 

I  noticed  that  her  nostrils  and  lips  were  black, 
that  her  muzzle  was  gray  or  a  dirty  white,  and  that 
her  tongue  was  pink  in  the  middle  and  had  a  black 
border. 

Lately  the  musk-ox  has  been  placed  between  the 
ox  and  the  sheep  and  honored  with  a  genius  of  its 
own  called  ovibos. 

In  the  Barren  Grounds  north  of  Great  Bear 
Lake,  "Olive"  lived  upon  twigs  and  grass,  but 
she  took  kindly  to  civilized  food  and  contentedly 
munched  the  crackers  which  I  had  brought  in  my 
pockets  to  please  her. 

The  sketching  of  wild  animals  is  always  at- 
tended with  more  or  less  inconvenience  on  the  part 
of  the  artist,  in  the  wilderness;  he  must  get  his 
poses  with  hasty  sketches  made  from  life  and  make 
his  finished  drawings  from  the  dead  animal  or 
from  the  zoological  specimen  confined  in  the  gar- 
den, but  this  is  not  always  a  simple  task.  I  have 
been  in  more  serious  danger 

SKETCHING  IN  WILD  ANIMAL  STORES, 
MENAGERIES, 

and  such  places,  than  I  ever  have  been  in  the  wil- 
derness. 

.While.  I  was  in  no  danger  shut  up  with 
"Olive"  in  her  little  cage,  I  found  it  anything  but 


FIRST  LIVE  MUSK-OX  IN  NEW  YORK          149 

an  easy  task  to  make  my  drawings  with  my  model 
so  close  to  me;  although  an  old  hand  at  this  kind 
of  work,  I  found  it  more  or  less  disconcerting 
whenever  I  would  look  up  from  my  work  to  see  the 
cage  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  curious  people. 

Neither  did  it  relieve  my  embarrassment  when 
such  questions  as:  "What  are  you  locked  up  for, 
old  man?"  "How  many  days  did  the  judge  give 
you?"  "Do  they  feed  you  on  hay?"  "Do  you  have 
to  sleep  with  that  cow  o'night?"  were  hurled  at 
me  from  various  quarters  of  the  compass. 

These  sallies  of  wit  were  greeted  by  the  rest  of 
the  crowd  with  unconcealed  merriment,  but  not- 
withstanding the  inconvenience  of  the  small  space, 
and  the  public  exhibition  of  myself  as  a  caged 
wild  man,  I  shall  'always  remember  gentle  little 
"Olive"  and  my  visit  to  her  with  pleasure  and 
never  cease  to  regret  her  untimely  death. 

The  musk-ox  is  perfectly  adapted  by  nature  to 
the  barren,  cold  countries  where  it  lives.  Its  flesh 
is  good  for  food,  does  not  taste  of  musk  and  it 
probably  saved  General  Greely's  party  from  starva- 
tion. Lieutenant  Peary  is  also  indebted  to  the 
musk-ox  for  many  much  needed  additions  to  his 
stock  of  provisions. 

However,  unless  some 

STRINGENT  MEASURES 

are  introduced  the  musk-ox,  like  the  poor  buffalo, 
will  be  wiped  out  of  existence.  If  it  was  domesti- 
cated it  could  be  used  by  settlers  in  the  north  coun- 


150  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

try  where  it  would  thrive.  The  domestic  herds  of 
this  animal  would  supply  food  and  clothing  and 
render  the  country  habitable  for  people  for  all  time 
to  come  and  the  time  is  coming  when  that  coun- 
try will  be  settled  as  is  northern  Europe  today. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  in  its  own  climate 
the  musk-ox  could  be  made  as  much  of  a  range  ani- 
mal as  the  reindeer  is  in  Lapland,  and  it  would  be 
far  more  useful  than  the  domesticated  reindeer,  so 
carefully  imported  into  a  country  already  supplied 
with  magnificent  native  beasts  perfectly  adapted  to 
the  climate,  food  and  country. 

"Buffalo"  Jones,  whose  heroic  efforts  at 

DOMESTICATING  BUFFALO 

and  crossing  it  with  our  domestic  cattle  have  been 
so  little  appreciated  by  the  unthinking  public,  made 
an  expedition  to  the  Barren  Land  of  the  north  in 
order  to  secure  some  musk-ox  calves  with  which 
to  start  a  herd.  After  enduring  great  hardships 
and  going  through  many  adventures  he  was  suc- 
cessful in  capturing  a  number  of  the  young  ani- 
mals. The  calves  in  his  camp  attracted  the  wolves 
which  he  had  literally  to  fight  away  in  hand-to-hand 
conflict  during  which  the  wolves  killed  his  dog. 

But  he  saved  the  calves  only  to  have  them 
treacherously  slaughtered  by  his  Indian  hunters  so 
that  the  doughty  Colonel  returned  to  his  home 
empty  handed  with  a  new  lot  of  thrilling  experi- 
ences added  to  his  already  long  list  of  personal  ad- 
ventures. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  DEER  I  SHOULD  NOT  HAVE  KILLED 

THE  DEER  I  SHOULD  NOT  HAVE  KILLED — SPLENDID  WHITE  TAILS 
— HE  MUST  HAVE  A  DEER — ALL  THE  GUILT  OF  A  MURDERER 
— HOW  THE  HUNTER  SHOT  HIS  BUCK — NO  WOODCRAFT  IN 
KILLING  CHICKENS  AND  BUTCHERING  CATTLE,  AND  NO  FUN 
IN  IT  EITHER — REAL  SPORT  IN  PHOTOGRAPHING  BIG  GAME 
— EVERY  W7ILD  ANIMAL  KILLED  MAKES  ONE  LESS  IN  THE 
WORLD — A  GUMMER  AND  A  LUNGER — HOW  THE  AUTHOR'S 
LIFE  WAS  SAVED  BECAUSE  HE  LOOKED  MORE  LIKE  A  MOOSE 
THAN  A  DEER— THE  KING  OF  BIG  AMERICAN  GAME  ANIMALS 
— THE  LiITLE  FAWN  AT  BELTON,  MONTANA — BUCKS  ARE 
DANGEROUS  AT  CERTAIN  TIMES  IN  THE  YEAR — FIVE  FULL- 
GROWN  DEER  NOT  LARGER  THAN  RABBITS — KILLED  BY  THE 
POISON  BREATH  OF  A  FURNACE — A  PIGMY  MUSK  DEER — 
HOOFS  MEASURING  ONE-QUARTER  OF  AN  INCH  THE 
BROADEST  PART — SUSPENDED  BY  THEIR  TEETH. 

Armed  with  a  camera,  a  sketch  book,  and  field 
glasses,  but  otherwise  unarmed,  I  once  took 
a  journey  to  the  woods  where  I  was  met  by 
a  botanist  friend  of  mine  and  we  put  up 
for  a  short  time  at  a  small  hotel  on  the 
verge  of  the  forests.  Often  in  the  morning  while 
dressing,  I  could  see  from  my  window  the  deer 
digging  potatoes  with  their  forefeet  in  the  hotel 
potato  patch.  Each  day  in  our  tramps  we  would 
meet  with  one  or  more  of  these  beautiful  creatures, 


1 52  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

then  we  would  clap  our  hands  and  watch  them 
spread 

THEIR  SPLENDID  WHITE  TAILS 

as  they  bounded  away  unharmed  in  the  woods. 
Just  before  we  pulled  up  stakes  to  start  for  a  camp 
further  back  in  the  forest,  a  hunter,  a  good  shot, 
but  poor  woodsman,  complained  bitterly  of  his 
hard  luck  in  not  being  able  to  get  a  deer  to  bring 
home  with  him  or  even  to  get  sight  of  one. 

It  was  our  last  day   at  this   place   when   this 

hunter  put  his  rifle  into  my  hands  and  told  me 

•^_^ 

HE  MUST  HAVE  A  DEER. 

The  season  was  open  for  deer,  but  I  am 
not  a  killer.  With  the  gun  over  my  shoulder 
I  walked  back  about  two  miles  where  a 
buck  was  feeding  in  a  windfall.  A  child  could 
have  shot  this  deer;  it  required  no  skill  and 
no  courage  to  kill  it  as  it  stood  broadside  towards 
me.  I  fired,  but  just  as  I  pulled  the  trigger  the 
deer  started  forward,  so  instead  of  the  bullet  strik- 
ing him  in  the  shoulder,  as  it  should  do,  it  pierced 
his  side  (paunched  him),  the  poor  animal  stag- 
gered a  short  distance  when  the  botanist  fired  to 
put  it  out  of  misery  and  it  fell  under  a  tree  and 
lay  there  kicking  until  we  came  up  and  cut  its 
throat.  I  felt 

ALL  THE  GUILT  OF  A  MURDERER; 
we  hung  -the  body  up  by  its  heel  joints,   disem- 


THE  DEER  I  SHOULD  NOT  HAVE  KILLED  153 

boweled  it,  buried  the  refuse,  and  left  the  thing 
hanging  on  the  tree;  then  we  washed  our  bloody 
arms  and  hands  in  a  dark  pool  and  cleaned  the 
blood  off  our  knives  with  the  brown  dead  leaves, 
blazed  the  trees  to  the  road  and  with  a  guilty 
conscience  I  returned  to  the  little  hotel,  returned  the 
rifle  to  its  owner  and  sadly  told  him  that  if  he 
would  walk  out  to  a  certain  woodpile,  then  follow 
a  spot  trail,  he  could  shoot  a  buck. 

The  next  morning  as  we  were  on  our  way  to 
our  distant  camp  we  met  a  hunter  proudly  return- 
ing with  his  only  deer.  It  did  not  take  long  for 
me  to  wash  the  gore  off  my  bloody  hands  and 
arms  and  to  clean  my  hunting  knife,  but  I  shall 
never  rid  myself  of  a  feeling  of  guilt  when  I  think 
how  unnecessary  it  was  to  kill  that  animal,  and 
how  weak  I  was  deliberately  to  kill  a  deer  simply 
because  a  man  asked  me  to  do  it.  That 
deer  was  killed  by  me  because  of  the  friend- 
ship for  that  man  and  the  man  wanted  it  for  the 
same  reason  an  Indian  would  wish  a  scalp  to  put 
in  his  belt,  he  wanted  it  as  a  "trophy"  of 

HIS   SKILL  AS  A    HUNTER. 

Now  please  don't  misunderstand  my  position.  I 
would  not  hesitate  to  purchase  and  kill 
chickens  or  even  cattle,  if  we  needed  them 
for  meat,  neither  would  I  think  it  wrong  in 
a  game  country  to  supply  the  camp  kettle 
with  the  necessary  food  from  the  abundance 
which  the  forest  offered,  but  /  do  not  like  to  kill 


154  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

chickens;  I  would  hate  worse  to  kill  cattle,  and  I 
see  no  pleasure  in  the  killing  of  game.  The  danger 
of  the  chase  and  all  the  hardship,  and  all  the  skill  of 
a  woodsman  are  required  of  the  man  who  success- 
fully photographs  or  sketches  wild  creatures,  and 
it  is  these  qualities  which  give  real  zest  to  the  hunt, 
not  the  bloody  butcher's  part  of  it. 

There  is  another  side  of  the  subject  which  we 
must  keep  in  view;  every  chicken  which  we  kill, 
every  steer  which  is  slaughtered  or  any  domestic 
animal  of  any  kind  which  is  sacrificed  for  the  table 
or  market,  creates  a  demand  for  these  animals,  and 
the  farmers  feeling  the  demand,  raise  more  do- 
mestic animals,  so,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  the 
more  domestic  animals  you  kill  the  greater  will  be 
the  supply;  but 

EVERY  WILD  ANIMAL  KILLED 

makes  one  less  wild  animal  in  the  world,  so  you 
can  see  that  the  more  game  there  is  destroyed  the 
less  there  will  be  in  the  world. 

It  was  on  this  same  vacation  after  we  had  made 
a  hot  and  fatiguing  tramp  through  the  woods  and 
climbed  over  some  fallen  trees  lately  felled  by  a 
baby  tornado,  that  we  reached  the  shore  of  a  lake 
and  I  seated  myself  upon  a  log  in  an  open  spot.  We 
pulled  off  our  brilliant  colored  sweaters  so  that  the 
breeze  from  the  water  might  refresh  us.  Out  on 
the  lake  a  few  hundred  yards  distant,  a  canoe  ap- 
peared occupied  by  two  men.  Suddenly  the  man 
in  the  bow- with  evident  excitement  pointed  his  fin- 


THE  DEER  I  SHOULD  NOT  HAVE  KILLED  155 

ger  at  me  as  I  sat  upon  the  log.  The  manner  in 
which  he  pointed  me  out  to  his  companion,  for 
some  reason  or  other,  gave  me  an  uncomfortable 
sensation,  so  I  hastily  arose  from  the  log  and 
waved  my  cap.  The  only  effect  this  had  was  to 
increase  greatly  the  excitement  in  the  canoe, 
and  when  the  man  in  the  stern  reached  for  his 
rifle  I  ran  down  to  the  water's  edge  and  shouted. 
At  that  both  men  took  up  their  paddles  and  con- 
tinued their  journey. 

I  am  not  a  vain  man  and  my  physical  ap'pear- 
ance  occupies  a  small  part  of  my  attention,  but 
since  that  incident,  what  little  vanity  I  had  has 
disappeared.  I  afterwards  learned  that  the  occu- 
pants of  the  canoe  were 


A  GUMMER  AND  A  LUNGER 


the  gummer  being  a  man  who  spends  his  time  in 
collecting  spruce  gum  for  the  market  and  a  lunger 
a  man  with  defective  lungs  who  has  been  ordered 
to  the  woods  by  his  physician.  The  season  was 
closed  for  moose,  but  open  for  deer  and  the  game 
marshal  at  that  time  was  somewhere  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. It  seems  that  the  gummer  in  the  bow  of 
the  canoe  when  he  caught  sight  of  me,  exclaimed, 
"There  is  a  moose!"  while  the  lunger  declared 
that  I  was  a  deer;  if  the  gummer  had  not  been  so 
positive  that  I  was  a  moose  and  the  game  marshal 
had  not  been  known  to  be  near  by,  this  story  would 
never  have  been  told,  and  maybe  if  I  had  not  run 
down  to  the  water  front  and  shouted  the  game 


156  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

laws  might  not  have  been  observed,  but  whatever 
might  have  happened,  the  fact  remains  that  my 
life  was  saved  because 

I  LOOKED  MORE  LIKE  A  MOOSE  THAN  A  DEER. 

Up  to  the  time  of  that  adventure  I  had 
been  disposed  to  laugh  at  a  moose,  his  long  un- 
gainly nose,  short  neck,  and  badly  drawn  body, 
have  always  appeared  absurd  to  me,  in  fact,  the 
moose  seemed  to  me  as  if  the  Creator  had  made 
him  while  in  a  humorous  mood,  but  now  it  is  dif- 
ferent. I  look  upon  the  moose  as  an  exceedingly 
dignified  and  noble  beast;  neither  do  I  hesitate  to 
declare  him  boldly  to  be  the  king  of  American  big 
game  animals.  Pshaw !  Alongside  of  a  moose  a 
deer  is  but  a  weak  effeminate  creature ! 

When  I  was  last  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  a  big 
mountain  lion  drove  a  beautiful  little  fawn  down 
to  the  railway  station  at  Belton,  on  the  Great 
Northern  Railroad,  and  the  kind-hearted  station 
master  fed  the  little  spotted  fawn  from  a  bottle 
just  as  human  "bottle  babies"  are  fed. 

Deer  make  beautiful  pets,  but  the  bucks  are  very 
dangerous  at  certain  times  of  the  year.  This,  how- 
ever, depends  upon  the  size  of  the  buck.  One  full- 
grown  deer  that  I  once  owned  had  legs  smaller 
than  the  pen  with  which  I  am  writing,  and  its 
body  was  not  as  large  as  a  big  jack-rabbit.  Of 
course,  this  toy  deer  was  not  dangerous  any  time 
of  the  year.  But  the  pigmy  musk  deer  of  Java  are 
far  from  numerous  and  seldom  seen  in  this  coun- 


/li  Jf^ 


BULL  MOOSE,  HORNS  SHED.     MOOSE  CALVES 


158  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

try.  The  one  I  owned  was  killed  by  gas  from  the 
furnace  of  our  house. 

One  winter  while  we  New  Yorkers  were  bring- 
ing into  requisition  all  modern  appliances  \vithin 
our  reach  to  ward  off  the  cold  waves  that  came 
rolling  over  us  from  the  mountains  and  plains  of 
solid  ice  of  the  northern  frozen  regions,  while  our 
ears  and  noses,  our  fingers  and  toes  were  tingling 
in  the  frosty  air  of  midwinter,  the  crew  of  the  good 
ship  Janet  Ferguson  were  sweltering  under  the 
burning  rays  of  a  tropical  sun.  The  ship  was  on 
her  return  trip  from  Singapore  to  New  York  with 
a  cargo  of  pepper  and  spices.  When  passing 
through  the  Straits  of  Sunda  she  was  met  and  sur- 
rounded by  the  usual  fleet  of  native  bum  boats 
laden  with  fruits  and  curiosities.  Among  the  mis- 
cellaneous cargo  of  these  sea  peddlers'  boats  there 
were  some  of  the  most  graceful, 

BEAUTIFUL  LITTLE  CREATURES 

one  could  well  imagine — five  full-grown  live  deer, 
not  larger  than  rabbits.  The  captain  of  the  Janet 
Ferguson,  after  some  parley,  succeeded  in  purchas- 
ing them,  giving  in  exchange  an  old  silver  watch. 
The  ship's  carpenter  soon  built  for  them  a  con- 
venient little  house,  about  the  dimensions  of  a 
small  dog  house,  with  "Deer  Lodge"  neatly  paint- 
ed over  the  door,  and  in  these  comfortable  quarters 
the  little  midgets  made  in  safety  a  voyage  of  136 
days,  becoming  great  favorites  with  the  crew.  One 
fawn  was  born  during  the  trip,  but  when  discov- 


THE  DEER  I  SHOULD  NOT  HAVE  KILLED  159 

ered  by  the  mate  of  the  vessel  the  buck  had  eaten 
off  its  legs  and  it  was  dead. 

Arriving  off  Sandy  Hook  the  Janet  Ferguson 
encountered  a  cold  wintry  gale,  all  hands  were  kept 
busy,  and  during  the  confusion  three  of  the  little 
creatures  which  had 

MANAGED  TO   ESCAPE 

from  their  snug  little  house,  perished  with  the  cold. 
Immediately  after  arriving  at  port  the  fourth,  a 
fine  buck,  fell  a  victim  to  our  inhospitable  climate. 
The  only  survivor, 


A  BEAUTIFUL  DOE, 


represented  in  the  painting,  came  into  my  pos- 
session; but  she  only  lived  about  ten  days.  In 
spite  of  all  my  care  she  too  expired,  killed  by  the 
poisonous  breath  of  our  furnace. 

She  was  a  timid  little  creature,  and  although  per- 
fectly tame,  objected  to  being  handled,  but  she 
would  take  food  from  my  hand  and  allow  me  to 
stroke  her  back.  She  had  the  pose  and  action  of 
our  ordinary  deer.  When  watching  her  as  she 
leaped  over  a  footstool,  or  stood,  head  erect,  with 
one  forefoot  gracefully  poised,  in  an  eager,  listen- 
ing attitude,  or  crept  timidly  and  stealthily  close  to 
the  wall  and  behind  the  articles  of  furniture,  it  was 
as  difficult  to  realize  that  it  was  a  real  live  deer  as 
it  is  to  believe  that  some  of  the  human  midgets 
are  actually  living  specimens  of  mankind. 


160  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

THE  PYGMY  MUSK 

is  common  in  the  peninsula  of  Malacca  and  the 
neighboring  islands,  frequenting  the  thickets. 
They  are  nocturnal  in  their  habits,  and  are  often 
surprised  by  the  natives  in  the  act  of  making  a 
raid  upon  the  sweet  potato  patches,  and  captured 
by  throwing  sticks  at  their  legs  or  caught  in  nooses; 
in  the  latter  case  they  frequently  escape  by  feigning 
death. 

The  Malays  prize  them  both  as  articles  of  food 
and  as  domestic  pets.  It  is  of  this  species  that  a 
"Nature  Fakir's"  story  is  told  to  the  effect  that 
when  closely  pursued  by  the  hounds  the  deer  will 
leap  into  the  overhanging  branches  of  some 
friendly  tree,  and  hang 

SUSPENDED  BY  THEIR  LARGE  CANINE  TEETH 

until  the  too  eager  foe  rushes  by,  then  dropping  to 
the  ground  they  will  calmly  retrace  their  steps.  It 
is  said  that  the  creatures  can  make  most  extra- 
ordinary leaps,  and  that  they  display  great  cun- 
ning. They  have  no  musk  bag,  and  like  the  rest 
of  the  family  are  destitute  of  horns.  The  antlers 
we  see  upon  stuffed  specimens  in  the  windows  of 
the  taxidermist  are  artificial. 

The  doe  in  my  possession  measured  fifteen  inches 
in  length;  the  head  rather  large,  being  four  and 
one-half  inches  from  point  behind  the  ears  to  the 
tip  of  its  nose;  nose  movable,  always  wet  and  cold 
like  a  pointer  dog,  and,  like  that  dog,  she  possessed 


THE  DEER  I  SHOULD  NOT  HAVE  KILLED  161 

a  keen  scent.  The  round,  short  ears  gave  the  ani- 
mal the  appearance  of  a  mouse.  The  canine-like 
tusks  were  short,  slender,  and  sharp,  and,  unlike  the 
buck's,  did  not  extend  below  the  lips.  The  ten- 
inch  mark  upon  the  rule  came  above  the  highest 
part  of  her  back.  The  legs  were  extremely  deli- 
cate; a  Faber  lead  pencil  looked  thick  and  clumsy 
beside  them. 

THE  TINY  HOOFS 

only  measured  two-eighths  of  an  inch  at  the  broad- 
est part,  where  the  cloven  parts  united.  The  color 
is  a  general  reddish  brown,  darker  upon  the  back, 
where  the  hairs  are  tipped  with  black;  an  indistinct 
dark  band  runs  from  a  point  between  the  ears  to 
nose;  rather  stiff  gray  hairs  upon  the  sides 
and  back  of  neck;  fawn-colored  sides;  three 
white  streaks  under  part  of  neck;  soft  hair  upon 
belly  and  the  anterior  upper  part  of  hind  limbs 
and  the  posterior  upper  part  of  fore  limbs;  the 
lower  jaw  is  also  white. 

These  animals  could  in  all  probability  be  ac- 
climated in  our  Southern  States,  especially  in  Flori- 
da, abounding  as  that  State  does  in  swamps  and 
thickets,  where  the  animals  could  secure  coverts  and 
breed. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


LAND  OF  ETERNAL  SNOW 

STARTED  FOR  THE  WEST — ENGLISH  TOURISTS — OUR  CONTEMPO- 
RARY ANCESTORS— LOOKING  FOR  MY  MODEL'S  NAME  ON  A 
TRUNK — SHE  MOVED  IN  THE  HIGHEST  OF  CIRCLES — THE 
WHISTLING  MARMOT — TOWERING  FLOWER  GARDENS — LAND 
OF  ETERNAL  SNOW — ICE  HUNDREDS  OF  YEARS  OLD — ABOVE 
THE  CLOUDS— A  FAINT  BABY  CRY — DEATH  IN  A  ZOOLOGICAL 
GARDEN. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  secure  a  model  who  ac- 
cords with  the  artist's  ideal  and  almost  impossible 
if  she  must  also  be  suited  to  the  particular  subject 
the  artist  may  have  in  view.  Understanding  this 
the  reader  may  imagine  with  what  a  keen  sense  of 
joy  I  read  a  letter  from  Mr.  Chester  Fox,  of  Seat- 
tle, a  student  of  the  Art  Students'  League,  who  at 
the  time  was  on  his  way  to  his  home  in  Seattle  to 
spend  the  summer.  Mr.  Fox  said  that  he  had  dis- 
covered a  model  exactly  suited  to  my  needs. 

After  that  I  lay  awake  nights  thinking  about  her 
and  when  slumber  would  at  last  claim  me  the  beau- 
tiful model  haunted  my  dreams  and  as  soon  as  I 
could  arrange  my  affairs  I 

STARTED  FOR  THE  WEST. 

Before  long  I  found  myself  in  the  heart  of  the 

162 


LAND  OF  ETERNAL  SNOW  163 

Selkirk  Mountains,  and  under  the  shadow  of 
Mount  Stevens,  nestling  in  a  bank  of  brilliant 
flowers,  I  found  a  little  hotel;  not  particularly 
small  as  compared  with  other  hotels,  but  very  small 
and  puny  compared  to  the  surrounding  mountains. 

The  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  largest 
hotel  in  New  York  City  would  be  but 

AN  INSIGNIFICANT  OBJECT 

perched  on  the  side  of  Mount  Stevens  and  that 
there  are  very  many  higher  mountains  than 
Stevens. 

In  front  of  each  room,  standing  in  the  hallway 
of  the  hotel  were  the  black  enameled  trunks  and 

TRAVEL  WORN  BATHTUBS 

of  English  tourists. 

Both  trunks  and  tubs  were  plastered  over  with 
carefully  preserved  pasters  of  hotels  and  trans- 
portation companies  until  they  looked  like  New 
York  bill  poster  boards.  But  the 

STRANGEST  SIGHT  TO  AMERICAN  EYES 

was  that  of  the  owners'  names  and  /////  titles  In 
while  letters  five  inches  high  painted  on  the  funeral- 
like  trunks  and  globe  trotting  bathtubs. 

These  strange  contemporary  ancestors  of  ours 
advertised  their  comical  titles  as  an  American  quack 
does  his  patent  medicine. 


164  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

In  vain  did  I  look  for  my  charming  model's 
name  on  trunk  or  tub,  it  was  not  there. 

Not  only  do  our  funny  old-fashioned  cousins 
from  the  other  side  of  the  water  bedaub  their  bag- 
gage with  their  names  and  full  titles  until  it  looks 
like  an  American  circus  man's  luggage,  but,  with 
the  most  unconscious  bad  taste  they  scrawl  their 
titles  across  the  hotel  register  in  this  fashion : 

Major  General  Beefjuice,  Sir  and  Lady,  Hong- 
kong. 

Lady  Milldew  and  Maid,  London. 

The  Right  Reverend  Bishop  of  Moosjaw. 

Colonel  Pigsticker  and  Valet,  South  Africa. 

Below  which  may  appear : 

Bill  Jones  and  Valise,  Yonkers. 

But  nowhere  in  this  distinguished  company  could 
I  find  my  brown-eyed  model's  name  or  title ;  it  was 
not  on  the  register,  yet  I  knew  she  was  stopping  at 
this  hotel  and  that  her  family  was  as  old  as  any 
of  the  titled  names  registered  on  bathtub  or  trunk. 
In  truth  my  model  family  always  moved  in  circles 
more  exalted  than  those  frequented  by  the  queer 
but  genial  and  pleasant  mannered  tourists  from  old 
England  or  even  Bill  Jones  from  Yonkers. 

MY  BEAUTIFUL  MODEL  NANNIE 

was  a  born  aristocrat  whose  parents  moved  only  in 
the  highest  circles. 

Indeed,. if  you  wish  to  visit  her  family  estate  you 
must  be  first  certain  that  your  heart  is  all  right, 


LAND  OF  ETERNAL  SNOW 


165 


NANNIE   AND   THE   AUTHOR. 

otherwise  that  important  organ  may  go  on  a  strike 
when  you  are  most  in  need  of  its  help. 

You  must  climb  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
devil's  clubs  whose  thorny  cudgels  threaten  you  as 
you  pass  and  you  must  cross  the  foaming,  tumbling, 
wild  waters  of  the  mountain  torrent  by  walking  on 
the  perilous  bridge  formed  by  a  fallen  tree. 

Up !  Up  beyond  the  quaking  aspens,  where  the 
deep  blue  fringed  gentians,  the  flaming  Indian 
paint  brush,  and  the  lavender-colored  asters  thrive. 

Away  above  the  dim  twilight  of  the  mysterious 
forests  of  the  giant  trees.  Above  the  Jack  pines 
to  where  the 


i66  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

WHISTLING  MARMOT 

startles  you  with  his  call  and  the  little  chief  hare 
scuttles  with  its  mouth  full  of  grass  to  its  home  in 
the  slide  rock. 

Here  you  may  rest  and  regain  your  breath  on 
the  mountain  meadow  and  see  the  great  patches 
of  snow  holding  their  own  in  spite  of  the  rays  of 
the  summer  sun,  and  admire  the  profusion  of 
beautiful  blossoms  which  mosaic  the  verdant 
spots  caused  by  the  water  which  exudes  and  trickles 
down  from  the  softening  snow  beds.  Here  strange, 
comical  looking  goblin  thistles  apparently  twist 
their  hairy  necks  to  peer  at  the  intruder,  the  yellow 
Senecio  blooms  and  mingles  with  the  red  tips  of  the 
still  present  Indian  paint  brushes,  where  asters  and 
the  blue  Polymonium  nestle  in  the  rocky  recesses. 

You  must  walk  through  patches  of  heather-like 
plants  which  cling  close  to  the  rocks  and  whose 
blossoms  dare  not  thrust  their  heads  far  above  the 
protection  of  their  foliage.  You  must  tramp 
through  masses  of  twin  flowers  and  as  your  cruel 
hob-nailed  shoes  crush  these  delicate  blossoms  their 
only  protest  is  a  faint  but  fascinating  almond-like 
perfume  exuded  from  their  wounds. 

Leaving  this  Alpine  garden  far  below  you  rrmst 
climb  the  snow-powdered,  towering  rocks  whose 
frail  projections  break  from  the  parent  stone 
under  the  grasp  of  your  hands  and  crumble  away 
from  beneath  your  feet  to  go  crashing  with  wild 
leaps  to  the  blue  world  below  you. 

Up  these  rocks  to  the 


PENCIL    SKETCHES    OF    A    LIVE    ROCKY    MOUNTAIN  GOAT 
KID,  PROBABLY  THE  FIRST    PUBLISHED  SKETCHES 
OF    THE    ANIMAL    MADE    FROM    LIFE 


i68  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

LANDS  OF  ETERNAL  SNOW ! 

Up  to  the  birthplace  of  the  awe-inspiring 
glaciers,  whose 

EMERALD  ICE,  CENTURIES  OLD, 

never  ceases  its  imperceptible,  but  certain  move- 
ment to  the  bluff  foot  where  pieces  hundreds  of 
feet  in  thickness  break  off  and  go  thundering  down 
the  mountain-side,  cutting  great  swathes  through 
the  forests  of  tall  dark  trees  below.  Here  on  the 
edge  of  the  beetling  precipice 

FAR  ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS 

you  will  find  gentle  little  Nannie's  nursery. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  May,  1890,  "Chris- 
tian," the  guide,  murdered  Nannie's  mother;  but  do 
not  think  too  badly  of  Christian  if  he  did  not  live 
up  to  the  high  ideal  suggested  by  his  name.  Few 
men  think  it 

WRONG  TO  TAKE  LIFE 

even  of  a  mother  animal  for  the  fun  of  the  thing; 
few  women  will  deny  themselves  the  pleasure 
of  wearing  in'  their  hats  the  badly  upholstered 
bodies  of  little  birds,  for  the  sake  of  sav- 
ing some  of  their  humble  fellow-creatures  from 
extermination. 

Christian  thought  himself  to  be  a  sportsman  and 
the  killing  of  a  mother  animal  is  considered  "sport" 


LAND  OF  ETERNAL  SNOW 


169 


by  more  enlightened  men  than  this  Swiss  guide. 
After  the  death  of  the  mother  goat 

A  FAINT  BABY  CRY 

attracted  the  hunter's  attention  to  a  small  white 
object  on  the  rocks  of  the  mountain  top.  This  was 
the  poor  little  orphan  Nannie  and  when  the  big 
man  with  the  picturesque  costume,  and  the  terrible 
gun,  picked  up  the  baby  goat,  the  kid  took  the 
man's  fingers  stained  with  its  own  mother's  blood, 
in  its  mouth  and  tried  vainly  to  secure  the  life-giv- 
ing nourishment  expected  when  nursing. 


1 70  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

When  I  met  Nannie  in  the  Selkirk  Mountains 
she  had  grown  to  be  a 

BIG   FLUFFY   KID 

and  though  extremely  bashful  was  quick  to  form  a 
friendship  for  those  who  treated  her  kindly.  In 
fact  she  became  so  very  friendly  that  when  I  would 
seat  myself  on  the  grass  near  by  to  make  sketches, 
my  model  would  proceed  to  climb  up  my  back  to 
a  perch  on  my  shoulders,  there  she  would  push  off 
my  hat  to  lick  the  bald  spot  on  my  head,  a  scandal- 
ous thing  for  an  artist's  model  to  do,  but  it  greatly 
amused  Hasler  and  Bohrn,  the  Swiss  guides. 
These  two  men  came  to  New  York  in  October, 
1901,  and  brought  with  them  poor  little  Nannie, 
the  Rocky  Mountain  goat  and  sold  her  to  the 
Philadelphia  Zoological  Society,  I  believe,  where 
she  probably  died,  for  it  is  a  tough  goat  that  can 
live  long  in  a  zoological  garden. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


CHARGED  BY  A  HERD  OF  BUFFALO 

CHARGED  BY  A  HERD  OF  BUFFALO — FAMOUS  PABLO  ALLARD 
HERD — THE  COWS  WERE  MAD — PHOTOGRAPHING  THE  HERD 
— SKETCH  OF  THE  BUFFALO — HOW  A  BUFFALO  PREPARES 
TO  CHARGE — HE  MUST  LICK  HIS  NOSE,  ROLL  UP  HIS  TAIL, 
AND  PAW  CRESCENTS  IN  THE  EARTHS-BUTTED  BY  A  BUFFALO 
BULL  CALF — THE  PHOTOGRAPHER  WHO  DIDN'T  GET  A  PIC- 
TURE AND  WHAT  BECAME  OF  HIS  CAMERA — HOW  MY  PLATE 
LOOKED  WHEN  DEVELOPED — WHY  I  DID  NOT  SHOW  THE 
PRINT  TO  MY  COMRADES — ONE  HORNED  IKE,  THE  MAN 
HATER — A  BIG  DIGNIFIED  BUFFALO  BULL — HIS  SPIRITS 
WERE  HIGH— AN  ORDINARY  RANGE  BUFFALO — A  DANGER- 
OUS INHABITANT — THE  DEATH  OF  ONE-HORNED  IKE- 
SHORT  ON  ALTRUISTIC  IDEALS — FAILURE  TO  SAVE  THE  PAB- 
LO ALLARD  HERD — A  PLEASANT  WORLD  TO  LIVE  IN — 
ENGLISH  SPORTSMEN  KILL  DOMESTIC  BUFFALO. 

On  July  26,  1900,  we  were  driving  over  Horse 
Plains,  between  the  deep  canyon  of  the  Pen  d' 
Oreille  and  the  snow-capped  Mission  Range,  Mon- 
tana. As  we  rounded  the  foot  of  a  big,  drab,  sway- 
backed  hill,  known  as  Saddle  Butte,  we  were  con- 
fronted by  a  herd  of  between  two  and  three  hun- 
dred magnificent  buffalo.  They  were  thoroughly 
wild,  although  the  herd  was  the  private  property 
of  an  old  "Breed." 


i;z  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Such  a  sight  was  not  only  novel  but  awe-inspir- 
ing. This  was 

THE   FAMOUS   PABLO  ALLARD   HERD 

which  has  lately  been  sold  and  shipped  to  Canada. 
The  bulls  were  magnificent  fellows  and  stood  ready 
to  meet  all  comers,  they  had  no  fear  of  man,  and 
a  human  being  on  foot  would  stand  but  a  poor 
chance  for  life  in  their  presence. 

As  our  wagon,  heavily  loaded  with  tents  and 
camp  materials,  approached  the  herd  they  all  threw 
up  their  heads  and  "rolled"  up  their  tails,  then  with 
a  deep  vibrating  bellowing  let  us  know  in  no  un- 
mistakable manner  that  we  were  trespassers  on  their 
domain. 

CHARGED  BY  A  BUFFALO  HERD. 

The  bulls  pawed  the  dust  and  came  running  to- 
wards us  followed  by  the  cows,  the  latter  with  the 
hair  on  their  humps  standing  erect  like  that  on  the 
back  of  a  mad  moose  or  elk. 

THE  COWS  BELLOWED 

more  like  our  domestic  animals  but  in  a  savage 
manner  and  came  on  a  trot  towards  the  wagon, 
their 

PRETTY  LITTLE  CALVES 

running  along  behind  them.  Our  camping  outfits, 
wives  and  children  were  in  the  wagons,  to  which 
were  harnessed  "Injun  cayouses"  without  bits  in 
their  mouths,  the  reins  attached  to  halters.  The 
half-wild  horses  paid  no  heed  to  the  buffalo,  even 


174  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

when  the  whole  herd  halted  within  twenty  feet  of 
us,  bellowing  and  pawing  up  clouds  of  dust,  the 
bison  seeing  that  we  did  not  move  either  for  a  re- 
treat or  for  a  belligerent  purpose,  pawed  dust  a 
few  moments,  but  made  no  further  attempt  to  at- 
tack us.  What  they  said,  however,  we  understood 
as  well  as  if  they  had  used  the  English,  "If  you 
want  to  take  a  fall  out  of  us,  come  down  and  fight !" 
We  being  of  Quaker  ancestors  were  content  to  take 
shots  at  them  with  our  cameras  from  our  perch  on 
the  wagon,  and  in  a  few  moments  they  slowly 
moved  away. 

Three  times  our  squaw-man  drove  up  towards 
the  herd  and  three  times  the  herd  went  through 
the  same  evolutions. 

There  was  not  a  house  in  sight,  the  prairie  end- 
ing on  one  side  at  the  foot  of  the  snow-peaked 
Mission  Ridge,  and  beyond,  the  invisible  canyon 
of  the  Pen  d'Oreille  in  distant  blue  mountains  on 
the  other  side,  while  to  the  right  and  to  the  left 
the  prairie  rolled  up  against  the  horizon.  In  the 
distance  were  bunches  of  cattle  and  horses  almost 
as  wild  as  the  buffalo. 

It  was  always  my  ambition  to 

PHOTOGRAPH    A    CHARGING   BUFFALO 

and  to  do  this  it  was  necessary  to  have  plenty  of 
room,  for  while  buffalo  can,  and  often  do  charge 
in  zoological  gardens,  they  never  get  under  full 
headwayr  the  distance  being  too  short.  When  we 
were  opposite  Saddle  Butte  our  squaw-man  pulled 


CHARGED  BY  A  HERD  OF  BUFFALO         175 


BUFFALO    CALVES    AND    DOMESTIC    CATTLE 

up  his  spotted  cayouses,  and  pointed  with  his  finger 
to  the  foot  of  the  big,  drab,  sway-backed  hill  where 
some  shapeless  black  lumps  stood  motionless  on 
the  sun-baked  prairie.  I  knew  that  these  things 
were  outlawed  bulls  hovering  around  the  outskirts 
of  the  distant  herd  which  disowned  them.  So  I 
took  my  'camera  and  slid  down  from  the  wagon 
and  approached  one  of  these  lonely  veterans.  It 
was  an  outlawed  bull  without  doubt,  an  old  fellow 
whose  temper  was  sour  because  he  had  been  driven 


176  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

from  the  herd  by  a  younger  rival.  He  was  a  "has 
been"  and  consequently 

HE   WAS   DANGEROUS. 

As  I  approached  the  bull  he  was  cropping  the 
short  sun-dried  grass  and  thinking  of  the  time  when 
he  was  young  and  had  helped  chase  other  outlawed 
bulls  from  the  herd,  but  if  this  bull  had  been 
chased  by  a  rival,  it  had  never  been  chased  by  man, 
especially  had  it  never  been  threatened  by  a  man 
afoot  and  consequently  a  pedestrian  inspired  no 
awe  in  his  bullship's  heart,  but  a  buffalo  bull  has 
a  certain  formula  through  which  it  must  go  before 
it  can  actually  make  a  charge,  a  sort  of  buffalo  red 
tape,  so  to  speak,  which  must  be  religiously  ob- 
served because  other  buffaloes  observe  it. 

In  the  first  place 

THE   BUFFALO  MUST  LICK   HIS   NOSE; 

my  buffalo  stared  impudently  at  me  for  a  few 
moments  then  licked  his  black  nose.  In  the  next 
place  it  must  paw  the  dirt  with  one  forefoot,  swing- 
ing its  body  around  with  its  hind  legs  as  a  pivot, 
thus  making  a  perfect  arc  of  a  circle  or  a  complete 
semi-circle  of  pawed  earth;  during  the  process  it 
throws  the  dirt  up  over  its  shoulders  in  the  same 
manner  as  does  a  domestic  bull  when  it  is  angry. 
This  much  of  the  program  having  been  faithfully 
performed,  his  bullship  drops  on  his  knees  and 
rolls  over  in  a  great  cloud  of  dust;  if  the  enemy 


CHARGED  BY  A  HERD  OF  BUFFALO         177 

has  not  fled  when  the  demonstration  has  gone  thus 
far 

THE  BULL  DROLLS"  HIS  TAIL, 

that  is,  holds  it  in  a  stiff  curve,  then  it  lowers  its 
head  and  comes  thundering  at  you  like  an  auto- 
mobile. If  the  buffalo  ever  hits  you  the  re- 
sults will  be  just  as  bad  and  redress  as  unattain- 
able as  it  is  when  you  are  struck  by  an  automobile. 
Once  when  the  brawny  and  genial  Howard 
Eaton  of  Wolf  Ranch  was 

ROPING  WILD  BUFFALO  CALVES 

on  the  plains,  he  secured  a  fine  young  bull.  Grip- 
ping the  end  of  his  "lass  rope"  tightly,  Eaton 
ascended  a  little  mound  to  scan  the  horizon  in  an 
effort  to  locate  his  companions.  With  one  hand 
shading  his  eyes  and  the  other  holding  fast  to  the 
lariat,  he  did  not  notice  that  the  rope  had  slackened 
until  all  of  a  sudden  he  woke  up  to  find  himself 
on  his  back  gasping  for  wind  and  staring  at  the  sky 
over  head,  and  this  was  caused  by  a  blow  from  only 
a  calf. 

A  few  months  before  I  visited  the  Pablo  Allard 
herd,  a  photographer  with  a  very  large  camera  and 
tripod  attempted  to  get  a  picture  of  the  last  of  the 
bison,  but  he  did  not  succeed.  The  photographer 
reached  Selish  in  a  very  excited  state  of  mind  and 
a  somewhat  exhausted  state  of  the  body.  For- 
tunately for  him,  his  big  camera  was  so  conspicu- 
ous that  the  animals  devoted  their  entire  attention 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANLMAL  BOOK 


A   CHARGING   BUFFALO 
The   photograph   that   I   did  not  show  to  my  camp  fire  friends. 

to  the  camera  and  gave  the  operator  a  chance  to 
escape.  They  played  battledore  and  shuttlecock 
with. the  camera  and  trampled  the  fragments  deep 
into  the  dusty  earth. 

Now,  while  I  was  most  anxious  to  get  a  photo- 
graph of  a  charging  buffalo  I  had  no  desire  to  ex- 
periment with  its  butting  power,  so  opening  my 
camera,  I  stood  facing  the  enraged  bison  for  some 
time  before  I  touched  the  button.  I  waited  until 
I  thought  it  was  so  close  that  its  image  in  the  nega- 
tive would  overlap  the  plate.  After  touching  the 
button,  I  "hit  the  trail,"  but  only  the  high  places 
on  it,  until  I  reached  the  wagon  and  clambered 
aboard,  where  the  bull  did  not  follow  me. 


CHARGED  BY  A  HERD  OF  BUFFALO         179 

I  could  hardly  sleep  nights  until  I  had  that  plate 
developed.  I  planned  how  I  was  going  to  bring 
that  home  and  show  it  to  my  Camp  Fire  Club  com- 
panions, but  I  never  have  shown  them  the  picture 
and  the  reason  is  that  my  eye  magnified  more  than 
the  lens  of  the  camera.  When  I  made  a  print 
from  the  negative  there  was  a  line  of  sky  and  a 
line  of  prairie  and  it  took  a  magnifying  glass  to 
discover  that  the  little  fly-speck  on  the  paper  was 
the  charging  buffalo.  This  was  all  very  annoying, 
but  I  have  since  thought  it  over  and  feel  convinced 
that  had  I  waited  until  the  buffalo  appeared  as  a 
large  object  on  the  negative,  the  plate  might  never 
have  been  developed.  Mr.  L.  S.  Huffman  of  Mile 
City,  who  was  with  me  when  I  visited  the  Flathead 
Reservation,  was 

AN  OLD  BUFFALO   HUNTER 

and  plainsman  as  well  as  a  pioneer  photog- 
rapher of  big  game  animals.  Mr.  Huffman  did 
succeed  in  getting  one  very  good  view  of  the  herd 
and  I  secured  some  hasty  drawings. 

ONE-HORNED   IKE,    THE   MAN    HATER. 

Every  once  in  awhile  the  owners  of  this  herd 
of  buffalo  were  accustomed  to  sell  to  showmen  or 
ranchmen  a  few  of  the  animals.  They  sold  them 
in  this  way:  The  purchaser  would  ride  out  to 
Horse  Plains  and  meet  the  owners,  together  they 
would  trot  down  to  where  the  bison  were  grazing, 


i8o  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

there  the  owner  would  make  the  bargain  and  col- 
lect the  money  in  advance  at  so  much  a  head  on 
the  animals  to  be  sold  and  leave  the  purchaser  to 
get  his  animals  as  best  he  could — they  were  there, 
he  might  take  them.  On  one  occasion  the  purchaser 
succeeded  in  herding  his  animals  successfully  down 
at  the  station  at  Selish,  where  there  stands  an  or- 
dinary western  cattle  corral.  All  of  my  readers 
who  have  traveled  in  the  West  are  familiar  with 
the  big  enclosures  built  of  cottonwood  logs  and 
know  what  substantial  affairs  they  are.  Among 
the  animals  driven  into  the  corral  on  this  occasion 
was 

A  DIGNIFIED  BULL  BUFFALO; 

the  bull  did  not  seem  to  realize  that  he  was  a 
prisoner  until  the  bars  of  the  corral  had  closed  upon 
him  and  then  he  began  to  paw  dirt  and  say  things 
and  utter  dire  threats  against  the  cowboys,  station 
hands,  half-breeds,  and  Chinamen  assembled 
around  the  railroad  station.  Either  these  people 
did  not  understand  buffalo  language  or  they 
thought  bull  threats  were  idle  boastings,  for  they 
paid  no  attention  to  the  animal  until  they  were 
aroused  by  the  frightful  splitting  of  timber  as 
the  enraged  bison  came  bodily  through  the  splen- 
did corral,  then  everybody  sat  up  and  took  notice 
and  before  the  bull  had  time  to  shake  the  splintered 
wood  from  his  hide  there  was  not  a  man  in  sight. 
Just  to  show  the  people  what  he  could  do  when  he 
tried,  the  big  beast  turned  around,  made  a  charge 


i8z  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK     . 

at  the  corral,  going  through  one  side  and  coming 
out  the  other.  By  this  time  his  bisonship  was  feel- 
ing good, 

HIS  SPIRITS  WERE  HIGH 

and  he  looked  around  for  something  else  more  dif- 
ficult to  tackle  than  the  corral.  On  the  siding  of  the 
railroad  track  stood  a  locomotive  and  just  about 
this  time  the  gathering  steam  lifted  the  safety 
valve  and  escaped  with  a  threatening  roar.  The 
bull's  eyes  flashed;  he  pawed  the  dirt  until  the 
cloud  of  alkali  dust  almost  concealed  the  animal; 
the  next  moment  from  out  the  cloud  he  came 
thundering  along  straight  for  the  challenging  loco- 
motive. He  struck  the  locomotive  and  it  is  need- 
less to  say  that  the  latter  paid  no  attention  to  the 
attack,  although  just  about  this  moment  the  steam 
ceased  to  escape  from  the  safety  valve  and  the 
threatening  roar  which  had  attracted  the  buffalo 
bull's  attention  ceased  with  its  cause.  Whether  the 
bison  took  this  as  a  sign  of  surrender  or  whether 
the  loss  of  one  of  its  horns  with  the  impact  of  the 
locomotive  caused  it  to  desist,  no  one  knows,  but 
the  railroad  men,  cowboys,  half-breeds,  and  China- 
men from  their  hiding  places  saw  the  old  bull  stand 
back,  shake  his  head,  and  mutter  dire  threats  and 
challenges  to  everything  on  earth,  then  turn  and 
walk  off  up  the  hill  with  the  blood  dripping  from 
the  broken  horn  and  a  piece  of  rope  or  lariat 
dangling  from  the  good  horn. 

Previous  to  this  adventure  One-Horned  Ike  had 
been  only 


CHARGED  BY  A  HERD  OF  BUFFALO         183 
AN  ORDINARY  RANGE  BUFFALO  BULL, 

but  after  it  he  became  a  menace  to  everyone  who 
traveled  in  his  neighborhood.  Day  after  day  One- 
Horned  Ike  would  post  himself  on  the  top  of  one 
of  the  buttes  and  from  this  vantage  ground  scan 
the  horizon  watching  for  his  hated  enemy,  man. 
Half-breeds,  red  men,  and  white  men  all  learned 
to  look  for  this  bull  and  whenever  they  would  see 
silhouetted  against  the  sky,  the  form  of  a  buffalo 
with  but  one  horn  and  a  piece  of  rope  attached  to 
that,  they  made  a  wide  detour  to  escape  meeting 
One-Horned  Ike,  the  man-hating  buffalo  of  Horse 
Plains.  On  various  occasions  men  had  gone  out 
for  the  expressed  purpose  of  ridding  their  reserva- 
tion of  its 

DANGEROUS  INHABITANT, 

but  when  they  came  back  the  heaving  sides  of  their 
horses,  their  wide  distended  nostrils,  and  the  sweat 
which  dripped  from  their  hides  was  more  eloquent 
and  said  more  than  did  the  horsemen.  At  last, 
however,  an  Indian  took  his  rifle  and  by  worm- 
ing his  way  through  the  grass,  he  gained  a  posi- 
tion from  which  he  could  draw  a  bead  on  One- 
Horned  Ike  and  this  ended  the  days  of  the  man- 
hating  buffalo. 

When  we  Americans  allowed 

THE  PABLO  ALLARD  HERD  OF  BUFFALO 
of  the  Flathead  Reservation  to  be  sold  to  Canada, 


i84 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


i     ... 


SKETCHES    MADE    BY   THE    AUTHOR    ON    fLATiliiAD 
RESERVATION 

we  lost  the  last  herd  of  grand,  historic  and  noble 
American  bison. 

Here  was  a  living  herd  of  American  bison  large 
enough  to  increase  without  the  danger  of  degenerat- 
ing from  too  close  interbreeding,  located  in  a  fertile 
valley  apparently  just  suited  to  their  needs,  and 
we  have  allowed  it,  the  last  real  herd  of  buffalo  in 


CHARGED  BY  A  HERD  OF  BUFFALO         185 

existence,  to  be  sent  out  of  our  country!  There 
are  a  number  of  small  groups  of  buffalo  and  single 
individuals  scattered  around  the  country,  but  none 
of  these  are  composed  of  enough  buffalo  to  pre- 
vent the  danger  of  close  interbreeding  and  gradu- 
ally such  small  groups  will  die  out  and  my  young 
readers  will  live  to  see  the  day  when  none  exist. 

While  editing  Recreation,  I  formed  a  committee 
composed  of  some  of  the  most  prominent  men  of 
this  country  from  all  walks  of  life,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  saving  this  herd  of  buffalo  to  and  for  the 
people  of  the  United  States;  I  went  so  far  as  to 
have  Mr.  Howard  Eaton  get  an  option  on  the  ani- 
mals, but  to  my  great  surprise,  I  found  that  many 
of  the  people  of  Montana,  where  the  herd  was  lo- 
cated, were  bitterly  opposed  to  making  a  buffalo 
reservation  in  their  State,  and  some  of  the  most 
prominent  politicians  to  whom  I  applied,  some  of 
whom  occupy  seats  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
were  unable  to  appreciate  either  the  historic  value, 
patriotic  value,  and  sentimental  value  there  would 
be  in  a  national  herd  of  historic  animals.  In  our 
work  for  the  preservation  of  the  bison  we  had  the 
enthusiastic  support  of  our  broad-minded  President 
and  the  editors  of  all  the  leading  papers  of  New 
York  City,  but  neither  the  President,  the  commit- 
tee of  citizens,  nor  the  editors  of  New  York  papers 
can  put  through  a  move  of  this  kind  without  the 
support  of  the  people  themselves  and  the  financial 
part  of  my  magazine  became  discouraged  before 
we  had  awakened  the  popular  conscience. 


1 86  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

We  have  in  our  country  very  many  wealthy  peo- 
ple, any  of  whom  could  have  bought  this  whole 
herd  without  noticing  the  expense  incurred  as  much 
as  many  of  my  readers  would  five  cents  given  to 
charity,  but  unfortunately,  our  very  wealthy  peo- 
ple seem  to  be  short  on  high  ideals. 

The  following  incident  published  by  one  of  the 
Western  papers  is  a  good  example  of  what  some 
wealthy  people  call  sport. 

A  party  of  English  sportsmen  came  to  Montana 
in  quest  of  big  game.  They  had  a  retinue  of  ser- 
vants, an  armory  of  high-power  guns  and  they  were 
"out  for  blood,"  but  after  a  number  of  days'  hunt- 
ing they  only  succeeded  in  killing  a  few  coyotes, 
jack  rabbits,  and  prairie  dogs.  This  did  not  satisfy 
their  thirst  for  gore  so  they  went  to  the  Flathead 
Reservation  and  paid  $500  per  head  for  the  privi- 
lege of  shooting  down  two  or  three  range  buffaloes. 
The  half-wild  cattle  on  the  same  plains  or  horses 
would  have  been  just  as  difficult  to  shoot  as  the 
bison.  However,  our  English  cousins  are  now 
pointing  to  the  upholstered  heads  of  the  range 
buffalo  as  trophies  of  their  powers  as  great  hunters. 

What  an  exceedingly  pleasant  world  this  would 
be  to  live  in  if  the  public  could  devote  its  time  to 
enlightenment  and  refinement  and  if  the  so-called 
rulers  of  the  nations  were  really  endowed  with  the 
higher  order  of  intelligence  and  in  any  way  could 
prove  themselves  in  their  ambition  to  be 
above  the  savage  chieftains.  Suppose,  for  instance, 
that  the  billions  of  dollars  spent  within  the  last  few 


CHARGED  BY  A  HERD  OE  BUFFALO         187 

years  by  the  different  governments  to  uphold  an 
absurd,  Kentucky  moonshiner's  idea  of  honor,  had 
been  spent  on  internal  improvements,  parks,  forest 
preserves  and  scientific  investigations !  Boys,  such 
things  are  too  grand  for  us  men  to  realize  in 
our  lifetime,  but  not  in  yours. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  STORY  OF  FAUST  AND  MARGUERITE 

FAUST  AND  MARGUERITE — TWO  YOUNG  RED  FOXES — FAUST 
STEALS  A  JOHNNY  CAKE — CUB  FOXES  JUMP  SIX  FEET 
HIGH  WITHOUT  ANY  TROUBLE — HOW  THEY  DISFIG- 
URED THE  LAWN — THE  AUTHOR'S  FIRST  DRAWING  FROM 
NATURE — MORE  ROOM  FOR  FOXES  AND  BOY — FOXES  STEAL 
•  GEN.  GRANT'S  CHICKENS — THEY  STEAL  CHICKENS  FROM  ALL 

THE  NEIGHBORS — HOW  THEY  DID  IT  WITHOUT  BEING 
UNCHAINED — A  SUSPICIOUS  TRAIL  IN  THE  DUST — SHOWING 
THE  WHITE  FEATHER — WHAT  THEY  NEVER  COULD  LEARN 
— FOXES  AND  DOGS  NATURALLY  ASSOCIATE  TOGETHER — 
HOW  A  FOX  BARKS — THE  SOLITARY  FOX  HUNT — THE 
SHREWD  COUNTENANCE  OF  A  FOX — HOW  REYNARD  THREW 
THE  DOG  OFF  THE  SCENT — THE  HOUND  LOOPS  THE  LOOP — 
ANOTHER  SOLITARY  FOX  HUNT — THE  FOX  WATCHES  THE 
HOUND  ON  ITS  (THE  FOX's)  TRAIL— JIP  AND  THE  PIKE 
COUNTY  FOX — THE  FOX  MAKES  A  FATAL  MISTAKE — THE 
BALL  OF  FUR  WHICH  ROLLED  DOWN  A  HILL — FOX's  TRACKS 
IN  THE  SNOW — V.HAT  DOES  HE  DO  IT  FOR. 

\Vhile  the  author  was  a  schoolboy  in  Kentucky, 
he  was  made  supremely  happy  by  a  gift  of 

TWO  YOUNG  RED  FOXES,  FAUST  AND  MARGUERITE. 

When  the  truck  backed  up  to  the  front  sidewalk 
and  delivered  the  packing  case  containing  the 
foxes  there  was  no  place  ready  for  their  reception, 
so  the  box  was  carried  down  cellar.  After  the  cel- 
lar doors  were  closed,  a  board  was  knocked  off  the 
box  and  the  long-legged,  wolfish  looking  young- 
sters allowed  to  escape  to  the  confines  of  the  cel- 

188 


THE  STORY  OF  FAUST  AND  MARGUERITE  189 

lar.  The  next  morning  when  the  cellar  was  visited 
each  of  the  foxes  was  discovered  to  be  occupying 
a  window;  this  incident  may  appear  to  be 
trifling,  but  it  did  not  so  appear  to  the  boy,  because 
each  window-sill  was  higher  than  his  head  and  as 
near  as  he  can  now  calculate,  they  must  have  been 
almost  six  feet  above  the  floor,  which  was  a  pretty 
good  jump  for  cubs.  Before  the  foxes  had  re- 
mained long  in  his  possession  the  Kentucky  school- 
boy was  ready  to  believe  that  his  pets  could  easily 
have  jumped  from  the  ground  into  the  second-story 
window  of  the  house;  that  they  never  did  make 
this  jump  was  no  proof  to  his  mind  that  they  could 
not  make  it  if  they  tried. 

THE  FOXES  BECAME  VERY  TAME 

and  were  not  vicious,  but  they  would  bite  when 
there  was  something  to  be  obtained  by  using  their 
teeth. 

Once  when  the  writer's  baby  sister  was  watch- 
ing the  little  foxes  at  play,  Faust  discovered  that 
the  child  was  eating  a  big  round,  corn  johnny-cake; 
the  Eastern  readers  probably  have  never  seen  a 
real  johnny-cake,  and  for  their  benefit  it  may  be 
well  to  explain  that  this  article  of  food  is  made 
from  corn-meal  and  water,  patted  with  the  hands 
until  it  is  about  the  size  of  a  saucer  and  about  an 
inch  thick,  it  is  then  fried  in  grease  until  it  is  a  rich 
brown  color  on  both  sides ;  being  made  of  the  sweet 
field  corn  which  grows  in  the  Southwest;  it  is  not 
sweetened  with  sugar,  and  does  not  taste  so  much 


190  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

like  sand  as  do  the  corn-meal  cakes  made  of  flint 
corn  in  the  Eastern  States. 

THE   SOUTHERN  JOHNNY-CAKE 

is  really  delicious,  as  Faust's  nose  told  him,  so  he 
gamboled  up  to  the  side  of  the  little  girl  with  a 
series  of  undulating  bounds  and  then  without  warn- 
ing he  nipped  the  dimpled  hand  that  held  the  john- 
ny-cake. The  surprised  child  gave  an  indignant 
scream,  dropped  the  johnny-cake  and  ran  to  tell  her 
mother.  Faust  immediately  snatched  up  the 
abandoned  cake  and  ran  into  the  dark  corner  of 
the  cellar  to  devour  it. 

There  was  a  terrace  in  the  back  yard  which  ran 
up  to  an  elevation  of  at  least  twelve  feet;  this  ter- 
race was  covered  with  a  beautiful  coat  of  green 
grass;  to  give  the  foxes  a  little  taste  of  sunshine, 
they  were  taken  to  the  back  yard  and  securely 
chained  to  stakes  firmly  driven  into  the  earth,  when 
their  owner  returned  from  school  that  evening 
there  was  a  pile  of  fresh  earth  on  the  grass  in  front 
of  the  terrace,  but  no  foxes  in  sight.  They  had 
burrowed  to  the  full  length  of  their  chain  and  were 
lying  on  the  cool  damp  earth  at  the  far  end  of  the 
hole  enjoying  themselves. 

This  disfigurement  of  the  lawn  was  against  all 
rules  and  regulations  and  the  boy  was  held  responsi- 
ble for  the  misdoings  of  his  pets;  so  he  took  a 
spade,  filled  up  the  hole,  placed  a  piece  of  sod  over 
the  spot  and  raked  off  the  grass;  he  then  secured 
an  old  bafrel  and  placed  it  in  another  part  of  the 


§  a 

«!   13 
^    >- 

o 

p  5 


fc       O. 

E 


192  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

yard  to  serve  as  a  house  for  his  pets.  He  fastened 
them  to  a  stake  driven  close  to  the  barrel.  On 
Saturday  he  took  his  paints  and  made 

HIS  FIRST  PLCTURE  FROM  NATURE; 

the  picture  is  amateurish,  but  he  has  kept  it  unto 
this  day  and  a  reproduction  of  it  accompanies  this 
chapter.  The  author  prizes  this  picture  because  it 
is  the  first  attempt  he  ever  made  at  a  serious  draw- 
ing from  life. 

Shortly  after  this  incident  the  boy's  parents 
moved  to  a  larger  house  with  more  extensive 
grounds,  and  Faust  and  Marguerite  had  a  box 
made  for  them  with  a  round  hole  in  its  center  for 
a  door-way.  The  box  was  buried  in  the  ground 
about  a  foot  so  that  the  hole  or  door-way  of  the 
box  was  even  with  the  surface  of  the  ground;  the 
dirt  from  the  excavation  was  packed  over  the  top 
of  the  box  so  that 

THE    FOXES'    HOUSE   APPEARED 

like  a  mound  of  earth. 

Here  they  lived  happily  for  a  long  time,  running 
around  the  neighborhood  at  night  and  loafing 
around  their  den  in  the  daytime;  but  the  reader 
must  not  suppose  that  their  master  knew  that  his 
pets  were  roaming  free.  They  may  have  been  free 
for  weeks  before  it  was  discovered  and  it  is  known 
that  they  were  free  for  at  least  four  or  five  days 
while  they  were  supposed  to  be  tightly  chained  to 
the  door  of  their  den. 


THE  STORY  OF  FAUST  AND  MARGUERITE  193 

One  morning  the  author's  Sunday  School  teach- 
er, who  lived  on-  the  opposite  side  of  the  street 
near  the  home  of  the  parents  of  General  U.  S. 
Grant,  complained  that  the  foxes  had  killed  some 
of  his  fine  chickens;  this  was  indignantly  denied 
by  the  boy,  who  declared  that  the  foxes  could  not 
kill  the  chickens,  because  they  were  securely 
chained  to  the  door  of  their  den  and  he  took  the 
neighbor  in  the  yard  to  where  Faust  and  Mar- 
guerite lounged  in  front  of  their  door  with  their 
noses  between  their  paws  watching  their  visitor. 
Wholly  unconvinced  the  Sunday  School  teacher 
turned  away.  Next  General  Grant's  father  com- 
plained of  the  loss  of  chickens  and  several  other 
neighbors 

FILED   COMPLAINTS   AGAINST  THE   TWO    FOXES. 

There  was  something  uncanny  about  this  work; 
foxes  have  the  reputation  of  being  very  sly,  but  no 
one  ever  heard  of  a  fox  that  could  unchain  itself 
at  night  and  then  chain  itself  up  again  in  the  morn- 
ing. Still  each  night  the  chickens  continued  to  dis- 
appear, and  the  storm  clouds  to  threaten.  So  one 
morning  the  boy  arose  very  early  to  make  investi- 
gations; no  wagons  had  passed  that  morning  save 
the  milk-cart,  and  the  white  dust  of  the  macadam- 
ized street  was  undisturbed  and  any  track  or  trail 
might  be  easily  discerned. 

Reaching  diagonally  across  the  white,  dusty 
street  from  the  writer's  front  yard  to  the  sidewalk 
of  his  Sunday  School  teacher's,  he  discovered 


1 94  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

TWO  VERY   PECULIAR  LINES   IN  THE  DUST, 

and  it  did  not  take  him  long  to  arrive  at  the  con- 
clusion that  these  lines  were  made  by  trailing  a 
chain  or  chains  across  the  street.  No  sooner  had 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  this  effect  than  he  took  a 
stick  and  hastened  to  obliterate  the  tell-tale  tracks ; 
then  he  went  over  to  look  at  Faust  and  Marguerite. 
The  foxes  were  full  grown  at  this  time  and  both  of 
them  beautiful  specimens.  When  their  master  ap- 
proached they  both  lay  perfectly  quiet  in  front  of 
their  den.  This  was  the  second  time  that  they  had 
received  him  in  this  manner,  and  there  was  some- 
thing suspicious  about  it,  for  it  was  the  habit  of 
these  foxes  whenever  their  master  approached  to 
dive  into  their  den  and  suddenly  emerge  again; 
thus  going  backward  and  forward  they  expressed 
their  delight;  this  action  taking  the  place  of  the 
frisking  of  a  pet  dog. 

"Faust,  you  rascal,"  exclaimed  the  boy,  uwhat 
have  you  been  doing?"  Faust  made  no  reply,  nor 
did  he  move  until  his  master  pushed  him  to  one 
side  with  the  toe  of  his  shoe  and  discovered 

A  WHITE  CHICKEN  FEATHER 

protruding  above  the  ground.  Faust  was  now  in- 
side of  his  den  with  his  pointed  nose  just  visible  at 
the  opening.  Marguerite  was  still  immovable. 
When  she  also  was  pushed  aside  she  too  retreated 
to  the  den.  To  make  a  long  story  short  four 
chickens  were  dug  up  from  the  spots  where  the 
foxes  lay.  These  were  carefully  buried  again  by 


THE  STORY  OF  FAUST  AND  MARGUERITE  195 

the  owner  of  the  foxes,  because  the  lad  could  think 
of  no  good  explanation  that  the  neighbors  would 
accept  and  concluded  that  the  best  policy  was  to 
call  that  incident  closed.  For  a  long  time  he  stood 
leaning  on  his  spade  lost  in  thought;  at  last  it  oc- 
curred to  him  that,  maybe, 

THE  FOXES  WERE  NOT  CHAINED, 

so  stooping  down  and  gathering  up  the  chains  he 
discovered  that  their  ends  were  fastened  to  nothing. 
By  slyly  watching  the  animals  he  discovered  that 
they  freed  themselves  by  twisting  the  chain  round 
and  round  until  it  made  a  hard  lump  over  the 
swiveled  spring  snap  (which  was  fastened  by  being 
strung  on  a  ring  bolt  in  the  side  of  the  box) .  The 
twisting  of  the  chain  around  the  snap  forced  the 
spring  back  and  unfastened  it. 

It  was  no  doubt  an  accident  that  first  freed  the 
foxes,  but  after  they  had  once  learned  how  to  do 
it,  it  was  probably  purposely  and  consciously  done. 
To  show  the  limitation  of  their  instinct  or  their 
reason,  however,  when  the  two  animals  were 
chained  together  they 

NEVER  COULD  LEARN  TO  GO  THROUGH  THE  SAME 
OPENING 

between  the  bars  of  the  iron  fence  of  the  front  yard 
and  thereafter  they  never  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
neighbor's  hen  roost,  or  going  further  than  where 
their  chain  caught  on  the  fence. 


196  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

There  was  another  thing  the  author  learned 
about  foxes  and  also  about  dogs  which  surprised 
him,  and  that  is  that 

DOGS  AND  FOXES  WILL  ASSOCIATE  WITH  EACH 
OTHER 

and  play  together  unless  the  dogs  have  been  previ- 
ously trained  to  hunt  the  fox.  There  was  not  a 
local  or  stray  dog  in  our  neighborhood  that  did 
not  stop  to  have  a  romp  with  Faust  and  Marguerite 
and  after  the  accidental  death  of  Marguerite,  Faust 
was  so  lonesome  that  whenever  there  was  a  dog  in 
sight  or  hearing  he  would  call  him  by  barking.  I 
never  knew  Faust  to  make  more  than  three  barks  in 
succession  and  seldom  less  than  three.  His  call  was 
bow — wow — wow,  very  quickly  given  and  then, 
after  a  considerable  pause  another  bow — wow — 
wow,  or  it  may  be  more  properly  speaking  bow — 
bow — bow.  Whether  it  was  the  novelty  of  this 
bark  or  something  peculiarly  winning  in  its  tone, 
is  unknown,  but  the  fact  is  well  known  to  all  who 
remember  these  foxes  that  the  call  seldom  failed 
to  bring  a  dog  into  the  yard.  Black-and-tans, 
poodles,  fices,  and  even 

BULL  DOGS  CAME  AND  PLAYED  WITH  THE  FOX 

and  in  all  the  rough-and-tumble  gambols  there 
were  no  times  when  either  party  showed  ill  tem- 
per. Occasionally  the  fox's  chain  would  take  a 
hitch  around  the  dog's  leg  and  cause  it  to  yelp; 


THE  STORY  OF  FAUST  AND  MARGUERITE  197 

occasionally  the  dog  would  be  a  little  rough  and 
the  fox  would  dive  down  into  its  den,  but  it  would 
always  appear  again  after  the  dog  had  apparently 
promised  to  be  more  gentle. 

A  SOLITARY  FOX  HUNT. 

Once  when  spending  the  summer  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  White  Mountains,  I  was  sitting  on 
the  shore  of  a  wild  little  lake  watching  some  great 
northern  divers  with  a  little  black  fuzzy  baby  diver 
disporting  themselves  in  the  water,  when  I  heard 
the  voice  of  a  hound  away  off  in  the  distance.  The 
sound  grew  nearer  and  nearer,  but  long  before  the 
dog  approached  my  neighborhood  there  was  a  rus- 
tle among  the  leaves  near  the  shore  of  the  little 
lake  and  I  saw 

THE  SHREWD  COUNTENANCE  OF  A  FOX 

peering  out,  apparently  more  interested  in  the 
northern  divers  than  it  was  in  the  distant  hound. 
The  voice  of  the  hound  sounding  again  much  near- 
er, however,  reminded  the  fox  of  the  necessity  of 
caution;  it  trotted  along  the  bank  opposite  to  a 
place  where  a  log  was  floating  in  the  water,  then 
it  turned  and  disappeared  in  the  woods,  made  a 
short  loop  and  reappeared  again  at  the  same  point 
and  without  any  hesitancy  lightly  sprang  through 
the  air  to  the  floating  log.  It  then  ran  along  the 
log  to  where  it  approached  a  fallen  tree  which  lay 
half  covered  with  water  with  the  roots  at  one  end 


198  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

extending  in  the  air  and  the  branches  at  the  other 
end  almost  submerged.  The  old  tree  was  at  least 
fifteen  feet  from  the  shore.  Trotting  along  the 
full  length  of  the  trunk  it  jumped  from  one  piece 
of  driftwood  to  the  other,  then  sprang  to  the  shore. 

THE  BAYING  OF  THE  HOUND 

was  approaching  closer  and  closer.  Nevertheless, 
the  fox  calmly  stopped  to  look  once  more  at  the  in- 
teresting group  of  water  fowl,  and  then  in  a  care- 
less manner  it  trotted  off  and  disappeared  in  the 
woods.  Soon  the  voice  of  the  hound  told  that  it 
was  hot  upon  the  trail  and  in  a  few  moments  it 
appeared  fairly  bellowing  with  excitement.  It 
reached  the  edge  of  the  water,  ran  around  the  loop, 
back  again  to  the  water,  where  it  suddenly  stopped 
its  baying  and  nervously  sniffing  the  ground,  went 
back  and  forth  on  a  trail  around  the  loop  again 
and  again.  At  length  it  commenced  sniffing  up 
and  down  the  shore,  and  it  must  have  been  almost 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  a  sudden  and  joyful 
baying  announced  that  the  hound  had  discovered 
where  the  fox  had  jumped  to  the  shore. 

THERE  WAS  NO  ONE  WITH  THE   HOUND, 

it  was  having  a  solitary  hunt  on  its  own  account, 
and  there  is  little  reason  for  supposing  that  it  ever 
caught  the  fox. 

Another  time  when  the  writer  was  seated  on  the 
doorstep  .of    a    Pennsylvania    farm-house,    which 


THE  STORY  OF  FAUST  AND  MARGUERITE  199 

from  his  position  commanded  a  splendid  view  of 
the  other  side  of  the  Laxawaxen  River,  he  saw  a 
fox  chased  by  a  hound,  come  trotting  along  the 
trail  amid  the  stones  and  big  rocks  of  the  mountain- 
side. Like  the  Massachusetts  fox  this  one  ap- 
peared to  be  in  no  hurry,  seeming  to  have  perfect 
confidence  in  its  own  ability  to  get  away  from  the 
hound.  Presently  it  hopped  upon  a  stone  about 
the  height  of  a  man's  waist,  from  there  it  jumped 
to  the  slanting  trunk  of  a  chestnut  tree  which  gave 
it  just  sufficient  foothold  for  another  spring  to 
the  top  of  a  rock  about  eight  feet  high,  landing 
on  the  flat  surface  of  this  large  stone  it  coolly 
walked  over  to  the  edge  and  squatted  in  a  posi- 
tion to  command  a  view  of  the  trail. 

IT  WAITED  THERE  FOR  THE  HOUND  TO  GO  BY. 

The  observer  was  expecting  an  important  let- 
ter, the  mail  train  was  late  and  he  had  ample 
time  to  watch  the  fox  and  the  hounds  and  the  lat- 
ter afforded  plenty  of  entertainment  to  pass  the 
time  away;  apparently  the  fox  enjoyed  the  hunt 
as  much  as  did  the  hound,  for  after  the  hound  had 
passed  the  rock  the  fox  would  jump  down  from  its 
perch  and  go  through  the  same  tactics  again  and 
again  to  the  utter  bewilderment  of  the  dog.  It 
never  seemed  to  occur  to  the  dog  to  look  up  or 
about,  or  to  use  its  eyes  in  the  search,  but  it  de- 
pended entirely  upon  its  nose  to  find  the  object  of 
its  pursuit. 


200  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

A  FOX  ONCE  LIVED  IN  A  CLEARING 

or  the  woods  adjoining  it,  back  of  a  little  farm- 
house, on  the  edge  of  the  trout  brook  which  runs 
from  Big  Tink  Pond  to  the  river.  Every  day  for 
"sport  or  play"  this  fox  would  come  out  in  the 
clearing  and  bark  at  "Jip,5'  the  farmer's  dog.  Jip 
was  a  mongrel,  principally  black-and-tan  and  the 
rest  dog. 

JIP  COULD  KILL  A  RATTLESNAKE 

with  safety  and  dispatch ;  he  knew  all  the  wiles  of 
the  woodchuck  and  just  how  to  get  between  this 
rodent  and  its  hole;  he  would  tree  partridges  for 
his  master,  was  an  excellent  coon  dog,  and  death 
on  squirrels  and  chipmunks,  but  the  fox  had  no 
fear  of  Jip.  All  summer  long  this  play  went  on. 
About  the  same  time  each  day  the  fox  would  dare 
Jip  out  and  each  day  after  having  fun  with  the 
dog,  would  leave  the  chagrined  and  bewildered 
canine  barking  up  some  tree  which  a  fox  could  not 
climb,  or  slinking  back  with  its  tail  between  its  legs 
in  conscious  defeat  to  the  house.  One  day,  how- 
ever, the  fox  made  a  fatal  mistake.  Jimmy,  the 
farmer's  boy  took  Jip  along  with  him  to  hunt 
snakes,  while  he  (the  boy)  cut  brush.  At  the 
usual  time  the  fox  appeared  and  gave  his  challenge 
to  the  farm-house  dog.  The  fox  did  not  look  be- 
hind him  or  he  might  have  escaped,  for  this  time 
Jip  was  right  back  of  him  and  Reynard  had  but 
just  finished  his  third  bark  when 


THE  STORY  OF  FAUST  AND  MARGUERITE  201 

JIP  WAS  UPON  HIM. 

Now  Jip  was  about  the  same  size  as  the  fox  and 
the  fight  should  not  have  been  very  unequal.  They 
clinched  and  made  a  ball  of  fur  which  rolled  down 
the  hill-side,  but  when  it  separated  into  two  parts, 
one  part  was  the  triumphant  Jip  and  the  other  a 
dead  fox. 

Last  winter,  in  company  with  a  schoolboy,  a 
scientist,  and  a  sportsman,  I  took  a  run  out  to  the 
woods.  A  heavy  snow  storm  followed  our  arrival 
at  camp ;  the  thermometer  dropped  as  low  as  four- 
teen below  zero,  so  that,  within  a  little  over  a  hun- 
dred miles  from  New  York  City,  we  were  enjoy- 
ing an  Arctic-  experience.  We  went  to  the  woods 
to  study  the  tracks  of  animals  as  well  as  to  wear 
off  the  effects  of  too  confining  work  indoors;  we 
were  successful  in  both  objects  and  had  a  week  of 
most 

EXHILARATING  AND  STRENUOUS  FUN, 

but  what  I  want  to  speak  of  here  is  the  story  told 
by 

THE  FOXES'  TRACKS  IN  THE  SNOW. 

After  the  storm  had  cleared  up  and  the  weather 
moderated  to  zero,  all  the  wood  folks  began  to 
venture  out  and  write  their  adventures  in  the  white 
snow.  We  could  see  where  the  deer  walked  leis- 
urely along  the  tote  road  dragging  its  feet  through 
the  snow,  moved  on  again,  crossed  the  trout  stream 
on  a  bridge  of  a  single  fence  rail,  took  a  drink, 
then,  as  other  tracks  told  us,  a  man  had  ap- 


202  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

preached,  and  the  deer's  tracks  showed  in  a  series 
of  big  leaps  marking  the  road  for  a  mile  or  so. 
We  could  see  where  the  mice  had  tunneled  their 
way  out  of  the  snow  and  the  tracks  of  their  feet 
and  tails  running  across  the  surface  to  the  trunks 
of  trees,  where  they  disappeared  into  other  tun- 
nels, and  where  Molly  Cottontail  had  made  little 
paths.  We  found 

THE  FOOTPRINTS  OF  A  WILDCAT 

in  the  old  wood  road  and  everywhere  about, 
Reynard,  the  fox,  left  his  trail.  Now,  the  inter- 
esting part  about  the  fox's  trail  was  this:  The 
fox  had  been  pursued  by  neither  man  nor  dog5 
there  was  nothing  after  it,  yet  every  time  we 
struck  a  fox's  trail  we  discovered  that  the  hunting 
fox  was  just  as  cautious  and  adopted  the  same 
tactics  as  the  ones  already  described  as  those  of  the 
hunted  fox. 

EVERY  MUSKRAT  HOUSE 

along  the  edge  of  the  lake  had  been  investigated  by 
a  fox,  but  in  no  case  did  the  fox  go  directly  up  to 
the  muskrat  house.  The  tracks  in  the  snow  told  us 
that  he  first  circled  around  the  snow-covered  mound 
once  or  twice  before  he  ventured  to  examine  it  and 
mark  it  with  his  private  seal;  neither  did  the  fox 
follow  a  straight  trail  for  any  length  of  time.  It 
was  plain  to  be  seen  that  the  animal  was  constantly 
avoiding  some  imaginary  foe;  he  was  trying  to  mis- 
lead possible  pursuers.  This  it  did  by  trotting 


THE  STORY  OF  FAUST  AND  MARGUERITE  203 

along  the  center  of  the  road,  then  suddenly  mak- 
ing a  side  leap  of  six  or  more  feet,  then  trotting 
along  near  the  road  and  parallel  with  it;  then  out 
in  the  woods  making  a  circle,  coming  back  on  his 
first  tracks,  following  them  back  for  a  short  dis- 
tance, then  side  leaping  from  them  and  continuing 
along  parallel  with  the  other  side  of  the  road  for 
some  distance  before  he  made  another  jump  to  the 
center  of  the  road,  to  continue  the  journey.  .When- 
ever we  found  a  fox's  trail,  we  discovered  that  it 
went  through  the  same  or  similar  manoeuvers. 

I  must  admit  that  the  examination  of  these 
foxes'  trails  in  the  snow  proved  a  stronger  argu- 
ment to  me  in  favor  of  animal  automatism  than 
any  argument  I  have  read  in  books  or  heard  at 
lectures,  for  I  suppose  that  anything  that  is  done 
through  habit  is  done  more  or  less  unconsciously 
and  I  really  do  not  believe  that  the  foxes  who  left 
their  tell-tale  tracks  in  the  snow,  deliberately  rea- 
soned out  the  subterfuges  they  adopted  to  mislead 
any  possible  foe,  and  I  have  not  the  least  doubt 
that  a  tame  fox  that  never  knew  an  enemy  would 
leave  the  same  sort  of  a  trail. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


CAPTURING  WILD  ANIMALS  WITH  NAKED 
HANDS 

CAPTURING  WILD  ANIMALS  WITH  NAKED  HANDS — BOY  WHO 
LIVED  IN  THE  WOODS  LIKE  A  WILD  CREATURE — WHAT  A  CAT 
CAN  DO  A  BOY  CAN  DO— HOW  PUSS  CAPTURES  HER  PREY- 
CLOSE  QUARTERS  WITH  A  GREAT  HORNED  OWL — BOTH  ENDS 
OF  IT  WERE  DANGEROUS — STALKING  WILD  ANIMALS — CAP- 
TURING FULL-GROWN  BIRDS  ALIVE — THERE  WAS  AN  OLD 
CROW,  BLIND  IN  ONE  EYE — HOW  HE  WAS  CAUGHT  WITH 
NAKED  HANDS — ALL  BIRDS  WITH  BALD  HEADS  ARE  NOT 
EAGLES — BITTEN  BY  A  TURKEY  BUZZARD — A  TURKEY  BUZ- 
ZARD IN  THE  HANDS  OF  THE  GAME  COCK — MARKS  ON  THE 
SNOW  LEFT  BY  THE  RUFFED  GROUSE. 

As  a  lad  it  was  my  ambition  to  capture  alive  and 
tame  every  wild  thing  I  saw.  Traps  did  not  ap- 
peal to  me  and  I  never  had  the  desire  to  kill,  con- 
sequently there  was  but  one  method  left  for  me  to 
secure  the  creatures  for  my  backyard  zoo  and  that 
was  by  capturing  them  with  my  hands.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  my  first  efforts  in  this  line  were 
failures.  But  some  volumes  of  Hall's  Western 
Tales  chanced  to  fall  into  my  hands  and  like  every 
other  book  pertaining  to  the  wilderness,  or  pioneer 
life,  these  books  were  read  by  me  with 
the  keenest  of  interest.  Among  the  stories 
told  by  this  pioneer  historian  of  the  West, 

204 


CAPTURING  WILD  ANIMALS  205 

was  one  about  a  little  outcast  boy,  who 
lived  in  the  woods  like  a  wild  creature  and  cap- 
tured live  things  with  his  naked  hands.  This  fas- 
cinated me  and  appealed  so  strongly  to  my  imagina- 
tion, that  I  spent  many  hours  in  brooding  and 
studying  over  plans  by  which  I  might  be  able  to 
capture  wild  animals  without  the  aid  of  guns  or 
traps.  It  occurred  to  me  that  our  cat  might  give 
a  hint,  for 

TABBY  WAS  A  VERY  SUCCESSFUL   HUNTER. 

Tabby  was  only  a  cat,  she  was  not  very  big,  she 
had  no  hands,  and  not  much  sense.  I  was  a  boy, 
a  human  being,  I  had  a  pair  of  very  useful  hands 
and  brains  enough  to  hold  my  place  with  the  other 
boys  in  my  classes  at  school,  consequently  it  seemed 
reasonable  that  anything  a  cat  could  do  I  should 
be  able  to  accomplish.  So  I  spent  hours  and  days 
lying  prone  on  the  grass  with  my  chin  in  my  hands 
watching  to  see  how  puss  captured  such  wary  things 
as  birds,  squirrels  and  rabbits.  The  first  thing  that 
I  noticed  was  that  the  cat  seldom  or  never  moved 
when  the  object  of  her  pursuit  was  looking  at  her, 
but  took  every  advantage  of  inattention  on  the  part 
of  the  game  to  shyly  creep  nearer  and  nearer  until 
she  was  within  reach,  then  abandoning  all  efforts 
at  concealment  she  would  spring  boldly  upon  her 
prey.  For  weeks  I  practised  the  cat's  tactics  to 
see  how  closely  I  could  approach  the  robins,  blue 
birds,  cat-birds,  rabbits  and  other  small  creatures 
without  alarming  them,  and  to  my  great  delight  I 


206  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

discovered  that  I  soon  could  out-do  Tabby  in  her 
own  chosen  field.  One  day  a  great  horned  owl  was 
discovered  perched  upon  a  projection  in  the  roof 
of  an  out-building  in  the  back  yard.  I  thought 
that  the  big  bird  would  make  a  splendid  addition 
to  my  zoological  garden.  Carefully  I  Crept  upon 
the  fierce  blinking  thing  and  whenever  it  turned 
its  head  my  way  I  would  become  as  rigid  and  mo- 
tionless as  a  setter  dog  on  a  point.  To  my  great 
joy  I  succeeded  in  reaching  the  owl,  but  I  did  not 
know  what  to  do  next.  The  Virginia  horned  owl 
is  a  large  and  powerful  bird  of  prey,  has  hooked 
talons  which  are  capable  of  sinking  through  a 
thick  cowhide  boot  and  badly  wounding  the  foot 
within,  as  I  know  from  my  own  personal  knowl- 
edge, but  at  that  time  I  had  never  before  experi- 
mented with  big  owls — nevertheless  I  knew  enough 
about  wild  creatures  to  see  at  a  glance  that 

BOTH  THE  HEAD  AND  FEET  OF  THIS  THING  WERE 
DANGEROUS 

and  I  was  in  a  quandary. 

If  I  caught  it  by  the  feet  its  head  would  be  free 
— if  I  caught  it  by  the  head,  those  powerful  hooked 
talons  could  rend  and  tear  my  flesh  and  clothes, 
so  in  despair  I  took  the  flat  of  my  hand  and 
knocked  the  astonished  bird  from  its  perch.  Since 
then,  I  have  owned  live  specimens  of  the  Virginia 
horned  owl  and  have  reason  to  congratulate  my- 
self that  I  was  prudent  enough  to  allow  this  one  to 
escape. 


CAPTURING  WILD  ANIMALS  207 

The  escape  of  the  large  owl  was  a  grievous  dis- 
appointment to  me,  at  the  same  time  I  had  proved 
to  myself  that  the  study  of  the  cat's  tactics  had  not 
been  in  vain.  I  had  learned  the  art  of  stalking 
wild  creatures.  Among  the  live  game  captured  by 
me  in  this  manner,  are  gray  squirrels,  red  squirrels, 
chipmunks,  flying  squirrels,  a  full-grown  muskrat, 
opossums,  raccoons,  and  one  full-grown  red  fox. 
The  latter  was  being  pursued  by  the  dogs  when  it 
dashed  into  a  house  and  took  refuge  under  a  bed, 
under  which  I  crawled  and  brought  forth  the  live 
animal  without  receiving  a  scratch  or  a  bite. 

I  also  captured  live  full-grown  birds,  catching 
the  goldfinches  by  creeping  under  the  big  sun- 
flowers and  snatching  them  from  their  perch  while 
they  were  feeding  upon  the  oily  seeds  of  the  plant. 
I  even  caught  specimens  of  such  shy  birds  as  the 
scarlet  tanager,  bob  whites,  ruffed  grouse,  and  wild 
pigeons. 

A  few  years  ago  there  was 

AN   OLD      CROW 

that  was  blind  in  one  eye.  He  frequented  a  cer- 
tain woods  where  some  lumber  had  been  cut  and 
where  a  pile  of  decaying  logs  gave  him  a  perch 
from  which  he  could  survey  the  surrounding  land- 
scape. It  was  also  a  famous  hunting  ground,  fre- 
quented by  wood-mice,  shrews,  small  brown  red- 
bellied  snakes,  beetles  and  luscious  fat  grubworms. 


208  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

IT  WAS  A  HUNTERS'  PARADISE 

for  a  crow.  All  my  readers  must  know  that  a  crow 
is  one  of  the  shyest  and  most  cunning  of  birds  and 
that  even  when  a  crow  is  blind  in  one  eye,  his  cap- 
ture with  one's  naked  hands  is  about  as  difficult  a 
project  as  even  an  expert  need  try  to  prove  his  skill. 
Curious  to  see  if  I  still  possessed  the  ability  de- 
veloped in  my  youth  I  announced  my  intention  of 
capturing  old  one-eye  with  my  hands.  My  first 
attempts  to  approach  the  bird  offered  me  no  en- 
couragement, but  afforded  an  inexhaustible  source 
of  amusement  to  Mrs.  Beard,  who  was  reared  upon 
a  farm,  frequented  by  these  birds,  and  thor- 
oughly understood  the  difficulties  attending  my  at- 
tempts to  capture  one  alive,  she  freely  declared  that 
it  was  not  possible  for  a  man  to  capture  a  wild 
crow,  even  if  it  "were  blind  in  both  eyes"  But 
I  was  not  disheartened  and  I  found  that  my  at- 
tempts to  approach  nearer  the  bird  were  rewarded 
each  time  by  a  slight  advance  over  the  previous 
effort.  The  old  crow  gradually  became  less  wary. 
After  watching  it  feasting  upon  a  large  sized 
rodent  I  made  my  final  attempt.  Whenever  its 
blind  eye  was  turned  in  my  direction  I  made  rapid 
advances,  but  as  soon  as  the  wary  bird 

FOCUSSED  HIS  GOOD  EYE  UPON  ME 

I  stood  stock  still  gazing  intently  at  the  sky,  at 
the  ground,  at  a  tree,  at  anything  but  the  crow. 
Within  fifteen  minutes  after  the  time  of  my  start 


CAPTURING  WILD  ANIMALS  209 

I  brought  the  squawking  and  frightened  bird  in 
triumph  to  my  log  house  and  let  it  loose  before  my 
astonished  helpmate.  This  I  consider  a  record 
breaker  in  this  line  of  sport  and  even  more  excit- 
ing than  photographing  big  game  in  the  wilder- 
ness. 

If  it  is  difficult  to  sneak  upon  game  and  steal 
a  photograph  of  it  in  the  open,  it  is  very  much 
more  so  to  creep  upon  it  and  capture  it  alive  with 
one's  naked  hands. 

With  all  my  youthful  experience  in 

HANDLING   THE    WILD    CREATURES 

of  the  woods  I  have  but  one  scar  to  show  where 
I  received  any  punishment  from  them  and  this 
scar  was  made  by  the  beak  of  a  big  disgusting 
turkey  buzzard.  The  bird  had  fallen  into  the 
Ohio  River  and  was  captured  by  two  small  boys, 
who  brought  it  to  me  and  said  it  was  an  eagle. 
While  I  was  perfectly  familiar  with  the  form  of 
the  turkey  buzzard  when  it  was  roosting  upon  a 
dead  tree  or  circling  around  in  its  most  beautiful 
and  graceful  flight,  I  had  never  examined  one  at 
close  range,  and  when  this  one  was  dumped  un- 
ceremoniously from  a  bag  in  front  of  me  I  got  down 
on  my  knees  and  resting  on  my  hands  was  study- 
ing the  creature,  not  knowing  for  the  moment  what 
sort  of  a  bird  it  might  be. 

THE  TURKEY  BUZZARD 

emitted  a  series  of  hisses,  then  waddled  over  to  my 


210  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

hand  and  slowly  stretching  out  its  neck  it  grasped 
my  wrist  with  its  beak  and  placing  one  toot  upon 
my  hand  commenced  to  pull  as  if  to  tear  a  piece 
of  flesh  from  my  arm.  It  was  so  very  deliberate 
about  this  operation  that  I  did  not  realize  its  ob- 
ject until  the  pain  in  my  wrist  and  the  blood  from 
the  wound  left  no  reason  for  doubt.  Doubling 
up  the  fist  of  the  other  hand  I  struck  the  buzzard 
and  knocked  him  from  the  porch. 

When  I  lived  in  Kentucky  everybody  kept 
chickens  and  everybody  who  kept  chickens  had  one 
or  more 

GAME  ROOSTERS. 

Our  old  game  cock  had  been  standing  along- 
side of  the  veranda  for  some  time  watching  me 
with  the  liveliest  of  interest,  when  to  his  delight  the 
blow  from  my  fist  sent  the  big  ungainly  bird  plump 
down  in  front  of  him. 

A  TURKEY  BUZZARD  IN  THE    HANDS   OF  A  GAME 

COCK 

is  about  the  most  helpless  creature  I  ever  saw.  This 
one  was  knocked  by  a  series  of  blows  all  over  the 
lawn  and  at  last  ignominiously  rolled  down  a 
series  of  terraces  to  a  corner  of  the  fence,  where  it 
lay  upon  its  back  gasping  and  helpless.  There  is 
a  little  half-moon  scar  upon  my  wrist  today  which 
serves  me  as  a  memorandum  of  my  adventure  with 
the  turkey  buzzard  which  the  boys  wanted  to  sell 
me  as  an  eagle  at  my  old  Kentucky  home. 


CAPTURING  WILD  ANIMALS 


211 


I  have  said  that  I  have  caught  ruffed  grouse 
with  my  naked  hands,  but  this  was  when  the  snow 
was  on  the  ground,  and  any  boy  with  ordinary 
alertness  and  judgment  can  tell  by  the  marks  on 
the  surface  of  the  snow  where  the  grouse  has 
alighted  and  buried  itself  under  the  soft  mantle  of 
crystals.  Then  by  reaching  his  hands  down  through 
the  snow  at  the  proper  point  he  can  pick  out  the 
bird  without  difficulty,  hold  it  just  long  enough  to 
prove  to  himself  that  he  has  captured  it,  give  it  a 
toss  in  the  air  and  allow  it  to  escape  with  a  whirr 
to  freedom. 


\ 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"BLACK"  WHALE  CAPTURED  BY  AMAGANSETT 
FISHERFOLK 

BLUBBER  SERVED  AT  DINNER — THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CAMP  FIRE 
CLUB  OF  AMERICA  EAT  BLUBBER  WITHOUT  BEING  AWARE  OF 
WHAT  IT  IS — HOW  TO  TELL  A  FISH  FROM  A  WARM  BLOODED 
AQUATIC  MAMMAL — WHITE  BONES  OF  GIANT  HANDS — THE 
LONESOME  SHORE  OF  NEW  YORK — MILK  GIVERS — THE 
HIND  LEGS  OF  A  WHALE — TIME  WHEN  ALL  WHALES  HAD 
TEETH — WHALES  WITH  FINGER  NAILS  IN  THEIR  MOUTHS — 
HOW  I  GOT  THE  EYE  OF  A  WHALE  AND  WHAT  IT  LOOKED 
LIKE. 

Amagansett  is  a  quaint  fisherfolk  town  on  Long 
Island.  There  are  buildings  there  of  recent  con- 
struction and  on  the  ocean  front  some  modern  sum- 
mer cottages,  but  a  neglected  old  windmill,  just 
such  a  one  as  the  valiant  Don  Quixote  attacked, 
stands  guard  over  a  small  scattered  flock  of  gray, 
weatherbeaten  houses  whose  hand-rived  shingled 
sides  bear  mute  testimony  to  their  age  and  respec- 
tability. 

Among  the  dust  and  cobwebs  of  the  attics  of 
these  ancient  houses  are  treasure  troves  that  would 
give  an  antiquarian  palpitation  of  the  heart,  old 
flint-locked  guns,  with  barrels  as  long  as  a  pike 
handle,  and  cartridge  boxes  containing  flints  and 
cartridges,  the  latter  made  of  the  newspapers  of 


214  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

revolutionary  times,  filled  with  gunpowder  gray 
with  age,  engraved  powder  horns  with  high-pooped 
and  castled-bowed  ships  of  1650  scratched  on  their 
surface,  long,  straight-bladed  swords  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  and  iron-bound  chests  suggestive  of 
Captain  Kidd's  time. 

But  few  strangers  know  of  these  things  and  it 
is  very  difficult  for  an  outsider  to  obtain  admission 
to  the  lofts  where  the  blue  wasps  build  their  mud 
nests  on  the  old  bronze  sword  hilts,  and  the  ghosts 
of  ancient  mariners  are  said  to  peer  from  the  dor- 
mer windows.  Whenever  a  whale  is  sighted  off 
shore,  the 

WHOLE  TOWN  IS  EXCITED. 

Every  student  of  whale-lore  has  read  of  the  late 
Captain  David  Gray,  who,  with  the  proud  title  of 
the  prince  of  whalers,  combined  the  reputation  of 
being  one  of  the  most  observing  and  noted  field 
naturalists;  but  Captain  Josh,  of  Amagansett,  has 
only  a  local  fame  as  an  expert  whaler  and  it  is 
very  probable  that  he  has  little,  if  any,  knowledge, 
of  the  genealogy  and  history  of  the  whale  as  it  is 
recorded  in  books  of  natural  history.  Neverthe- 
less our  Amagansett  whaler  is  thoroughly  conver- 
sant with  all  the  tricks  and  characteristics  of  live 
whales  and  it  is  doubtful  if  the  prince  of  whalers 
himself  could  excel  Captain  Josh  in  his  ability  to 
instantly  detect  the  puff  of  vapor  issuing  from  the 
blowholes  of  a  distant  whale. 

From  the  crow's  nest  on  top  the  house,  Captain 
Josh,  of -Amagansett,  scans  the  ocean,  and  where  a 


A  CAPTURED  WHALE  215 

landlubber  could  see  nothing  to  attract  his  atten- 
tion the  old  salt's  quick  vision  detects  the  faint 
cloud  of  steam  on  the  horizon,  which  sends  the 
blood  tingling  through  his  veins  and  causes  him  to 
shout,  'Thar'  she  blows!" 

Up  goes  the  signal  flag  to  spread  the  glad  news 
that  a  whale  is  sighted,  in  a  moment  more  the 
church  bell  is  clanging  and  its  brazen  throat  is  try- 
ing its  best  to  articulate  the  words,  "Thar'  she 
blows!" 

ALL  IS  HUBBUB. 

However  unintelligible  the  remarks  of  the  bell 
may  be  to  mere  strangers,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
but  that  the  natives  understand  it  perfectly,  and, 
if  they  did  not,  one  glance  at  the  captain's  signal 
flag  would  explain  all. 

The  sound  of  the  bell  sets  the  village  wild  with 
excitement  and  all  is  hubbub  and  confusion.  "Thar' 
she  blows!"  shout  the  school  children.  "Thar' 
she  blows !"  ejaculates  the  teacher,  "She's  blowin'  ' 
chuckles  the  parson  as  he  grabs  his  hat  and  makes 
a  bee  line  for  the  beach. 

In  the  olden  times  on  this  part  of  the  coast  they 
had  no  church  bells,  and  when  the  first  church  was 
built  in  the  neighboring  village  of  Sag  Harbor 
in  1767,  the  good  fishermen,  farmers  and  pi- 
rates used  to  assemble  on  sabbath  days  at 
the  call  of  the  drum,  and  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  this  same  martial  implement 
was  beaten  when  a  whale  was  sighted  off 
shore ;  but  now  it  is  the  church  bell  which  rings  the 


2i 6  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

news,  and  Captain  Josh  and  Captain  Gabe  and 
Bert,  Dave  and  Dan  launch  their  boat  amidst  the 
white  foam  of  the  breakers  and  a  goodly  crew  they 
make,  none  better  pull  an  oar;  but  there  are  other 
crews  and  other  brave  men  who  jump  at  the  first 
stroke  of  the  bell,  and  as  the  sound  reverberates 
among  the  houses  and  fields,- shoe-makers  drop  their 
lasts,  tailors  their  thread  and  needle,  blacksmiths 
their  hammer  and  farmers  their  plow  handles,  for 
underneath  the  thin  disguise  of  merchant,  trades- 
man and  farmer  are  hidden  the  adventurous  sea- 
men and  expert  whalemen  of  Amagansett. 

WARY  OLD  WHALE. 

All  the  inhabitants  rush  for  the  beach,  the  kodak 
man  scorching  on  a  wheel  with  his  camera  slung  on 
his  back,  summer  boarders,  women,  dogs  and 
children  hasten  to  be  in  time  to  see  the  oilskin-clad 
men  launch  their  boats  and  bend  to  the  oar  in  the 
mad  race  to  be  first  in  the  chase. 

Wise  and  wary  must  be  the  whale  who  escapes 
the  hereditary  foes  of  its  race;  but  there  is  one 
old  spotted  fellow  (perhaps  he  is  a  descendant  of 
the  celebrated  "Moby  Dick")  who  has  led  the 
Amagansett  people  several  chases. 

The  whalers  know  old  "spotty"  by  the  big  white 
marks  near  his  flippers. 

The  black  whale,  which  is  the  kind  hunted  at 
Amagansett,  was  supposed  to  be  totally  extinct  at 
the  time  of  the  American  revolution  and  has  only 
b.een  recently  introduced  to  science  as  a  rediscovery. 


A  CAPTURED  WHALE  217 

aHBi 


* 

SKULL  OF  CALF  WHALE   SHOWING   INSIDE  OF  UPPER  JAW 

BLUBBER  DRIED  OUT. 

Captain  Josh  and  all  his  hardy  race  are  ever  on 
the  lookout  and  when  the  captain  shouts,  "Thar  she 
blows!"  his  voice  is  heard  in  New  York  City;  it 
comes  ticking  over  the  wires  in  every  newspaper 
office  and  as  the  Amagansett  boats  shove  out  in  the 
surf,  representatives  of  the  press,  with  pens,  pencils 
and  cameras  are  hurrying  by  rail  to  be  in  at  the 
death. 

When  the  leading  boat  of  the  fleet  comes  up 
with  the  whale  Captain  Josh  shouts, 

"GIVE  IT  TO  'EM,  GABE!" 
and   there    is    a    swish    in    the    air   and    the   next 


2i8  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

instant  Captain  Gabe's  harpoon  is  quivering  in  the 
whale's  body. 

Sometimes  this  happens  so  far  out  to  sea  that 
the  boats  appear  as  mere  dots  on  the  horizon. 
Then,  again,  the  whale  is  accommodating  and 
allows  himself  to  be  struck  so  near  the  shore  that 
the  kodak  man  risks  a  snap  shot  at  the  act.  Then 
comes  the  fight,  next  the  death  and  then  the  long 
procession  of  boats  towing  the  dead  monster 
ashore,  and  there  is  no  sleep  for  the  people  that 
night. 

Men  are  busy  at  the  grindstone  sharpening  their 
"spades,"  great  chisel-like  tools,  with  long  handles, 
used  in  cutting  up  the  whale.  Implements  similar 
in  form  to  drawing  knives,  called  "mincing  knives," 
are  made  ready,  fires  are  lighted  under  the  huge 
iron  kettles  and  horses  are  hitched  to  the  wagons 
for  hauling  the  blubber  from  the  beach  to  the 
trying  kettles. 

Hardly  are  the  lines  made  fast  which  secure 
the  whale  to  the  shore  before  a  swarm  of  men 
with  their  long-handled  spades  mount  the  black 
carcass  and  begin  work. 

NOT  VERY  GOOD. 

The  last  time  I  was  in  at  a  kill  I  secured  some 
good,  clean  blubber  after  the  oil  had  been  tried 
out,  and  under  a  French  name  had  it  served  at  a 
dinner  of  the  old  Camp  Fire  Club.  Some 
of  those  who  ate  it  thought  it  to  be  toast  fried  in 
fish  oil,  others  tripe  fried  in  fish  oil,  another  bacon 


A  CAPTURED  WHALE  219 

treated  in  the  same  manner,  Yellowstone  Kelly  said 
it  was  beavers'  tail  fried  in  cod  liver  oil, 
two  guessed  sea  lion,  one  guessed  seal,  one 
said  it  was  some  sort  of  fish  a  long  way 
out  of  season  and  two  knowing  ones  "guessed 
right  the  very  first  time."  Personally  I  must 
admit  that  while  I  can  eat  blubber  fresh  from 
the  trying  kettle  I  much  prefer  bacon.  The  whale 
oil  is  a  useful  article  of  trade,  but  as  long  as  beef 
and  bacon  last  my  advice  is  do  not  experiment  on 
whale  as  an  article  for  the  table. 

Amagansett  people  have  be.en  known  to  fry  their 

DOUGHNUTS  IN  THE  KETTLES  OF  WHALE  OIL, 

but  Amagansett  people  are  sentimental  in 
everything  flavoring  of  the  sea,  and  even 
the  strangers  who  visit  this  old  Long  Island 
town  pay  little  heed  to  the  historic  relics 
moldering  in  the  twilight  of  the  attics,  but 
like  the  native  born,  the  stranger's  sole  interest  is 
in  the  most  ancient  of  all  objects  found  there,  the 
sea. 

If  any  reader  wishes  to  distinguish  at  a  glance 
the  warm  blooded  sea  mammals  from  the  great 
fishes,  he  can  do  so  with  one  look  at  their  caudal 
appendages  or  in  other  words  at  their  tails.  If 
the  creature  inspected  is  a  warm  blooded,  milk  giv- 
ing air  breather  which  gives  birth  to  its  young  alive, 
the  tail  will  be  found  to  be  set  parallel  with  its 
mouth,  that  is  horizontally  on  the  body  like  this  — , 
but  if  this  useful  organ  is  set  edgewise,  in  other 


220  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


DIAGRAM  OF  SIDE,  FRONT  AND  TOP  OF  WHALE 

words,  with  its  edge  perpendicular,  like  this  (  ,  the 
creature  to  which  the  tail  is  attached  is  a  fish. 

There  is  a  good  common  sense  reason  for  this 
that  the  sculptors,  painters  and  illustrators  of 

MERMAIDS 

may  well  study,  for  the  nose  on  the  anatomy  of  the 
mermaid  stamps  her  as  an  air  breather  and  not  a 
fish. 

An  air  breather  must  force  its  head  above  water 
whenever  it  needs  more  air  and  the  great  horizontal 
tail  is  most  admirably  adapted  to  this  purpose  in 
its  position  ready  to  slap  the  water  with  a  down 
stroke,  in  fact  it  is  safe  to  say  nothing  is  better  for 
this  purpose;  if  there  is  any  improvement,  nature 
would  have  worked  it  out  long  ago  and  some  one 
of  the  warm  blooded  progressive  sea  animals 
would  be  rejoicing  in  the  patent. 

A  FISHES  PERPENDICULAR  TAIL 
on  the  contrary,  is  built  to  scull  the  owner  through 


A  CAPTURED  WHALE  221 

the  water.  It  is  only  with  considerable  exertion 
that  a  fish  makes  consecutive  leaps  in  the  air,  but 
the  porpoise  and  the  whale  roll,  leap,  and  bound 
above  the  surface  of  the  water  with  as  much  grace 
and  ease,  as  an  antelope  does  on  shore.  The  fishes 
secure  oxygen  from  the  water  that  passes  through 
their  gills  and  they  only  leap  above  water  in  play, 
to  capture  food  or  escape  being  captured. 
We  know  that  a 

MERMAID  IS  AN  AIR  BREATHER 

and  a  milk  giver,  that  is,  a  mammalian  because  she 
is  represented  with  nostrils  and  lungs  and  breasts 
like  a  woman;  we  also  know  that  she  is  a  fable,  a 
nature  fake,  a  fanciful  creature,  but  even  a  fable 
should  be  logical  and  so  she  should  have  no  scales, 
but  a  skin-covered  horizontal  tail  like  that  of  the 
porpoise  and  whale. 

Scattered  on  the  beach  of  white  sand,  bleaching 
in  the  sun  just  above  high  tide  were  the  remains  of 
the  flippers  cut  from  various  whales.  Decay  had 
parted  the  meat  from  the  bones,  fiddler  crabs  and 
sand  fleas  had  completed  the  work  until  all  that 
remained  of  the  giant  rubber-like  flippers  were  the 

WHITE  BONES  OF  GIANT  HANDS 

of  five  fingers  each.  The  unexpected  sight  of 
these  well  articulated  bony  hands  make  a  startling 
and  forcible  argument  for  the  evolutionist,  and  the 
observer  is  ready  at  once  to  accept  as  truth  the 


222  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

theory  that  the  whale  has  been  evolved  from  a 
four-footed  land  beast  and  also  to  believe  that  the 
ocean  is  older  by  far  than  the  sandy  beach,  older 
than  Long  Island  itself.  The  ocean  pulsates  and 
roars  now  just  as  it  did  before  Long  Island  was 
pushed  out  into  the  sea — just  as  it  did  when  the 
Appalachian  Range  and  the  Rocky  Mountains 
themselves  were  but  reefs  of  rock  in  the  primeval 
sea — when  New  York  State  had  just  emerged 
above  the  tide.  The  breakers  dash  upon  the  beach 
at  Amagansett  to-day  as  they  did  upon 

THE  LONESOME  SHORE  OF  NEW  YORK 

untrodden  by  man,  beast  or  reptile  and  over  which 
no  bird  winged  its  flight.  You  can  well  believe  that 
New  York  was  then  a  nightmare  land,  covered  with 
a  carpet  of  fantastic  and  weird  vegetation — a  vege- 
tation which  lived  and  died  without  damage  from 
bird,  mammal  or  insect,  for  geologists  tell  us  that 
none  then  existed.  Ages  and  ages  after  that  time 
when  animal  life  appeared  upon  all  the  lands  and 
among  them  the  ancestors  of  our  present 

MILK  GIVING  CREATURES, 

one  of  them  loved  the  water,  and  while  spending 
more  and  more  time  in  that  liquid  it  discovered 
that  the  buoyancy  of  the  water  formed  a  better 
support  for  its  elephantine  body  than  the  thin  air, 
consequently  its  visits  to  the  shore  became  less  and 
less  frequent  until,  after  ages,  its  descendants  took 
up  their  permanent  abode  in  the  open  sea. 


A  CAPTURED  WHALE  223 

THE  HIND  LEGS 

were  of  no  further  use  and  had  gradually  disap- 
peared. The  end  of  the  spine  had  developed  a 
huge  tail  to  aid  it  in  its  movements  through  the 
water. 

ITS  FRONT  PAWS, 

or  feet,  which  had  at  first  probably  been  webbed 
were  now  entirely  enclosed  in  a  rubber-like  mit- 
ten and  the  pre-historic  monster  was  transformed 
to  a  whale.  You  can  see  the  operation  reversed 
today  by  keeping  a  tadpole,  in  an  aquarium  and 
watching  its  transformation  to  a  frog,  but  while, 
as  a  rule,  it  takes  only  a  season  for  a  tadpole  to 
change  into  a  frog,  it  must  have  taken  thousands 
of  years  for  the  hind  legs  of  the  whale  to  gradu- 
ally disappear  and  be  absorbed  into  the  body,  just 
as  the  useless  tail  of  the  tadpole  is  now  absorbed 
by  the  young  frog. 

Although  the  whale  does  not  now  know  the  use 
of  legs,  it  apparently  hates  to  give  up  the  in- 
stitution of  its  ancestors,  so  we  may  still -find  in  a 
modern,  up-to-date  whale  some  useless  bones  em- 
bedded in  the  coarse,  stringy  meat  and  oily  fat  of 
their  huge  fish-like  bodies,  which  is  all  that  is  left  of 
the  hip  bones  or  pelvis  of  their  ancestors,  and  like 
the  useless  buttons  on  the  back  and  sleeves  of  our 
own  coats,  their  only  present  purpose  is  to  let  us 
know  that  once  on  a  time  there  was  use  for  these 
things. 


224  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

The  Greenland  whale  still  retains  hip  and  knee 
joints  with  some  of  its  muscles,  telling  us  in  un- 
mistakable terms  that  the  forebears  had  useful  hips 
and  knees,  but  these  bones  and  muscles  in  the  mod- 
ern whale  are  only  rudimentary  and  are  as  useless 
to  the  whale  as  the  aforesaid  buttons  on  the  back 
of  a  man's  frock  coat. 

The  nostrils,  or  nose  holes  of  the  whale  family 
are  simple  slits  placed  on  top  of  its  head,  there 
are  sometimes  two  of  them  and  occasionally  only 
one.  It  is  doubtful  if  they  are  ever  now  used  as 
organs  of  smell,  but  probably  they  are  simply 
breathing  holes.  When  the  whale  breathes,  that 
part  of  the  throat  known  as  the  larynx  makes  a 
connection  with  the  nostril,  thus  forming  a  free 
passage  for  the  air  to  the  lungs  which  the  water 
in  the  mouth  of  the  whale  can  not  enter  even  when 
all  but  the  nostrils  are  under  water. 

When  the  whale  exhales  the  air  it  sends  the 
vapor  out  with  a  rush  and  the  whaler  on  the  look 
out  cries, 

"THERE  SHE  BLOWS!'' 

It  takes  millions  of  myriads  of  the  small  molusca 
crustaceous  and  jelly-like  animals,  upon  which  the 

WHALE-BONED  WHALES 

feed,  to  supply  material  to  build  up  their  huge 
bodies  of  oily  blubber,  but  by  an  ingenious  modi- 
fication of  the  mouth  the  whale  has  contrived  a 
fish  net  most  admirably  adapted  for  the  purpose 
of  capturing  the  small  shell-fish,  shrimp  and  jelly- 


A  CAPTURED  WHALE  225 

like  animals  upon  which  to  appease  its  appetite. 
Once  on  a  time  the  whale-bone  whales  had  teeth, 
and  the  sperm  whale  still  exhibits  as  formidable  a 
display  as  a  dentist's  show-case;  but  the  whale- 
bone whales  having  no  use  for  teeth,  never  take  the 
trouble  to  cut  them,  although  the  little  teeth  are 
embedded  in  their  jaws,  buried  there  as  the  anatom- 
ical remains  of  their  equally  useless  hind  legs  are 
buried  in  their  bodies.  As  the  balaena  gradually 
changed  their  habits  their  huge  jaws  became  modi- 
fied, what  in  the  roof  of  a  cow's  mouth  is  rough, 
fleshy  ridges,  is  altered  in  time  to  horny,  biting 
ridges  in  the  manatee  and  becomes  whale-bone  in 
the  balaena. 

The  whales  are  the  only  creatures  which  have 

FINGER  NAILS  IN  THEIR  MOUTHS, 

for  the  whale-bone  is  practically  the  same  sub- 
stance as  our  finger  nails  and  the  process  of  growth 
is  the  same.  Set  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  apart 
the  whale-bone  hangs  down  from  the  upper  jaws 
with  a  smooth  horn-like  outer  surface  and  thickly 
fringed  with  hair-like  shreds  upon  the  inner  sur- 
face, and  while  these  whales  do  not,  strictly  speak- 
ing, have  "hair  on  their  teeth"  they  do  give  an 
observer  that  impression.  On  very  large  whales 
as  many  as  three  hundred  sheets  of  whale-bone 
hang  down  on  each  side  of  the  jaws.  Every  man's 
first  desire  when  he  is  shown  a  captured  whale 
seems  to  be  to  see  if  it  is  possible  for  the  animal 
to  swallow  a  man.  As  he  steps  into  the  open 


226  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

jaws  of  the  dead  monster  and  views  the  small 
throat  hole  and  big  wrinkled  unwieldy  tongue, 
he  is  satisfied  that  the  Biblical  animal  could  not 
have  been  a  whale-bone-bearing  whale. 

It  is  safe  to  say  the  whale-bone  whale  never 
sticks  its  tongue  out  at  any  one  because  it  can't, 
its  tongue  is  fastened  down  to  its  lower  jaws  almost 
to  the  tip,  nevertheless  it  is  a  very  useful  organ  to 
the  whale. 

THE  WHALE  IS  NOT  FOND  OF  DIRTY  WATER, 

but  where  the  water  is  clean,  clear  and  of  a  dark 
blue  color,  and  where  its  special  food  is  most  abund- 
ant the  whale  chooses  its  place  to  feed,  which  it  does 
by  swimming  two  or  three  hundred  yards  and 
back  again  to  the  starting  point,  with  its  nose  just 
under  the  surface,  and  its  mouth  open;  let  them 
spread  their  jaws  as  wide  as  they  will,  the  droop- 
ing net  of  whale-bone  still  guards  the  passage  of 
the  mouth  and  as  the  mouth  is  closed  the  elastic 
ends  of  longer  whale-bone  bend  back  toward  the 
throat  and  fit  into  the  hollow  formed  by  the  short 
blades  behind  them  so  that  the  whole  trap  is  neat 
and  snug  and  ready  to  be  sprung  again  as  soon  as 
the  thick  tongue,  by  raising  at  the  back  of  the 
mouth  forces  the  water  left  there  through  the 
fringed  whale-bone,  leaving  all  the  small  food  crea- 
tures entangled  inside  the  meshes. 

For  an  hour  or  more  the  great  leviathan  will 
swim  back  and  forth  feeding,  then  it  takes  an  after- 
dinner  nap. 


WHALE  PARASITIC   CRABS 
The  only  photograph  of  this  parasite  extant. 


228  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

It  was  cold,  blustering  weather  while  I  was  at 
Amagansett  and  the  chilly  winds  impregnated  with 
the  raw  ocean  spume  benumbed  my  hands  and 
fingers.  For  some  reason  or  other  I  had  always 
been  possessed  with  a  desire  to  examine 

A  WHALE'S  EYE  AT  CLOSE  QUARTERS, 

but  when  I  attempted  with  the  aid  of  my 
jack-knife  to  cut  the-  eye  from  its  oily 
socket  my  fingers  became  numb,  and  the  muscles 
holding  the  eye  were  so  tough  that  it  took  me  at 
least  twenty  minutes  to  remove  it  from  its  socket. 
The  eye  was  about  the  size  of  a  regulation  baseball 
and  in  the  same  form.  I  put  it  in  alcohol  and  pre- 
sented it  to  the  museum  of  the  Flushing  High 
School,  but  I  am  doubtful  if  any  one  takes  the  same 
interest  in  this  object  as  I  did,  and  confess  that  to 
the  unscientifically  inclined  person  it  is  an  uncanny 
object. 

On  the  protuberances  on  the  top  of  the  head  at 
the  front  of  the  jaw,  called 

THE  BONNET, 

I  found  a  colony  of  small  crabs,  known 
as  whale  lice,  and  Tapan  Adney,  who  was 
with  me,  at  my  urgent  request,  attempted 
and  succeeded  in  making  a  photograph  of 
them  while  they  were  still  alive.  This  is 
interesting  not  only  to  the  naturalist  but  to  all  such 
people  as  are  fond  of  unique  objects  in  photog- 
raphy ;  I  think  it  is  the  only  photograph  ever  taken 


A  CAPTURED  WHALE  229 

of  these  live  degenerated  crab-like  animals.  It  has 
since  occurred  to  me  that  my  deep  interest  in  the 
eye  of  a  whale,  its  odd  jaws,  and  the  little  crabs 
which  infested  its  skin  are  not  so  much  due  to  my 
passionate  love  of  nature  and  natural  history,  as 
to  the  fact  that  everything  relating  to  the  whale 
excites  my  liveliest  interest,  principally  because,  as 
a  boy  in  an  inland  town,  I  used  to  read  exciting 
stories  of  whalers  and  then  wonder  if  I  would  ever 
see  a  real  live  whale. 

In  the  illustrations  to  the  boys'  books  of  whaling 
adventures  little  care  was  given  to  detail  of  the 
monsters  of  the  deep ;  such  small  points  of  the 
anatomy  as  the  eyes  and  flippers  were  enveloped 
in  a  mystery  caused  by  a  lack  of  knowledge  on  the 
part  of  the  illustrators.  Hence  the  eyes,  flippers 
and  other  details  were  usually  ingeniously  cover- 
ed up  with  convenient  waves  or  masses  of  foam. 
In  fact  I  think  that  the  first  correct  drawing  of  a 
whale,  which  has  appeared  in  any  of  the  popular 
natural  works,  is  the  one  in  the  Standard  Natural 
History,  made  from  a  drawing  of  the  late  Dr. 
Holder,  Curator  of  the  New  York  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  which  he  made  from  some  of  the 
very  drawings  and  photographs  reproduced  in  this 
chapter. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


HOW  ANIMALS  PLAY 

HOW  THE  CPERA  HAT  IMPRESSED  THE  "COON  "  AND  ASTONISHED 
THE  RACCOON — A  COYOTE  WITH  WHICH  I  BECAME  AQUAINT- 
ED — THE  CINCINNATI  TIMBER  WOLF — THE  JOLLY  OYSTER — 
INSECTS  WHICH  LOVE  FUN — A  TAME  KATYDID'S  PLAY — THE 

FISHES'GAME  OF  "i  CONQUER" — A  WILD  MOUSE  ON  A  LARK 
— THE  CHIMPANZEE'S  ROUGH  PLAY — TAME  PIGS  PLAYTAG — 
HOW  A  YOUNG  BIG  HORN  AMUSED  ITSELF — A  ROCKY  MOUN- 
TAIN GOAT'S  HOUR  OF  RECREATION 

Tame  monkeys,  like  children,  are  very  fond  of 
pets,  and  take  great  delight  in  fondling  white  rats 
and  other  small  creatures.  Raccoons,  on  the  con- 
trary, do  not  seem  to  indulge  in  live  pets ;  but  they 
are  extremely  playful  and  full  of  fun. 

I  once  had  nine  dollars  saved  from  my  salary  of 
seven  dollars  per  week  and  with  it  purchased  my 
first  opera  hat;  it  was  a  great  hat  and  I  was  so 
impatient  to  wear  it  that  I  could  scarcely  wait  until 
evening  to  don  .my  "swallow"  tailed  coat  and  full 
formal  evening  attire,  but  night  came  in  due  time 
and  by  eight  o'clock  I  was  dressed  with  white  tie, 
broad  expanse  of  shirt  front,  white  vest  and  patent 
leather  gaiters.  It  was  the  first  utop  to  the  bot- 
tom" evening  dress  I  had  ever  owned,  hence  my 
impatience  to  put  it  on.  With  the  opera  hat  on 

230 


HOW  ANIMALS  PLAY  231 

I  walked  a  couple  of  doors  to  where  a  most  charm- 
ing acquaintance  lived,  rang  the  bell,  handed  my 
card  to  the  maid  and  with  an  ostentatious  snap 
mashed  my  hat  flat  under  my  arm  as  I  was  ushered 
into  the  long  parlor. 

There  is  little  doubt  of  the  effect  of  that  hat  on 
the  colored  maid,  and  no  doubt  that  she  told 
"young  miss"  of  my  formal  appearance  and  the 
awe-inspiring  tall  hat,  for  "young  miss"  was  a 
long,  long  time  in  making  her  appearance.  I  sat 
bolt  upright  in  my  chair  with  my  precious  new  hat 
under  my  arm  and  waited,  it  seemed  to  me,  for 
hours;  presently  a  something  came  bouncing  into 
the  room, 

A  SOMETHING  ROUND  AND  FUZZY. 

It  was  not  a  maid  or  a  madam,  but  it  was  alive. 
I  was  astonished  at  first,  but  my  astonishment  soon 
changed  to  interest  when  I  discovered  that  the 
thing  was  a  big  fat  raccoon.  The  'coon's  antics 
soon  set  me  to  laughing  and  my  innate  love  of  ani- 
mals made  me  forget  the  assumed  formality  of 
my  call,  and,  sad  to  relate,  forget  all  about  the 
lovely  girl  I  was  calling  upon.  In  a  few  minutes 
I  was  down  on  my  hands  and  knees  playing  with 
the  'coon.  I  had  just  shot  my  opera  hat  out  to  its 
full  aristocratic  dimensions  with  a  snap  which  so 
astonished  the  'coon  that  it  rolled  over  backward, 
when  I  was  startled  by  hearing  a  silvery  laugh  and 
looking  up  was  very  much  embarrassed  to  see 
"young  miss,"  arrayed  in  an  exquisite  evening 


232  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

gown,  standing  in  the  doorway  looking  at  her  caller 
and  the  pet  raccoon,  both  of  them  on  all  fours  on 
the  parlor  floor.  Fortunately  the  charming  Ken- 
tucky girl  and  I  had  been  playmates  and  we  had 
known  each  other  since  my  barefoot  and  her  pina- 
fore days ;  otherwise  the  situation  might  have  been 
more  than  temporarily  embarrassing.  As  it  was, 
my  very  first  formal  society  call  proved  to  be  the 
most  informal  visit  of  the  kind  that  I  can  remem- 
ber. 

YOUNG  WOLVES 

will  accept  an  old  shoe,  a  ball,  or  any  other  object 
that  will  appeal  to  a  domestic  dog  as  a  plaything. 
A  coyote  with  which  I  became  acquainted,  while 
visiting  the  Canadian  National  Park  at  Banff,  had 
such  a  wild  frolic  with  my  cap  that  when  I  at  last 
regained  possession  of  it  the  thing  was  a  wreck. 

A  timber  wolf  in  Cincinnati  was  the  playmate  of 
my  elder  brother  and  was  in  no-wise  different  from 
a  frolicking  dog. 

FOXES  NEVER  SEEM  TO  TIRE  OF  PLAYING 

with  each  other;  a  feather  delights  them  beyond 
measure,  and  in  pursuit  of  it  they  will  make  phe- 
nomenal leaps.  I  have  watched  young  red  foxes 
playing  together  for  more  than  an  hour  at  a  time, 
and  I  doubt  if  there  lives  any  more  graceful  and 
playful  creature  in  wood  or  field. 


HOW  ANIMALS  PLAY  233 


YOUNG  COYOTE 

It  would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  determine  just 

WHAT  ANIMALS  DO  NOT  PLAY 

for  youth  and  play  seem  to  go  hand  in  hand.  It 
must  not,  however,  be  understood  from  this  broad 
statement  that  the  writer  looks  upon  the  oyster,  for 
instance,  as  a  frolicsome,  fun-loving  creature. 

But  even  this  lowly  bivalve  is  a  more  highly 
organized  animal  than  might  be  supposed  by  any 
one  whose  only  knowledge  of  the  oyster  is  its  ap- 
pearance on  the  half-shell,  or  its  flavor  as  it  goes 
sliding  down  his  gullet.  The  oyster  has  a  heart,  a 
liver,  an  intestine  and  a  rudimentary  brain.  The 
baby  oyster  swims  free,  and,  for  aught  we  know  to 
the  contrary,  may  be  a  playful  creature  before  it 
attaches  itself  to  some  stationary  object  and  settles 
down  to  the  stupid  vegetable  life  of  a  true  gentle- 
man of  leisure. 


234  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

By  experiment  I  have  found  that  even 

INSECTS  ENJOY  RECREATION 

and  apparently  have  an  appreciation  of  fun.  A  pet 
katydid,  which  I  kept  in  my  library  one  winter, 
would  pretend  to  fight  my  finger  and  assume  the 
most  laughable  poses  while  so  doing.  At  the  same 
time  it  kept  up  a  queer  scolding  noise,  made  with 
its  wings,  that  I  have  never  heard  among  the  trees. 

Last  summer,  from  an  ambush  in  the  forests,  I 
watched  the  little  four-footed  brownies  and  wood 
fairies  as  they  rustled  among  the  leaves,  peeped 
from  under  the  ferns  or  scampered  up  the  tree 
trunks,  but  the  ones  which  interested  me  most  were 
the  American  white-footed  mice,  or  deer  mice,  as 
some  call  them.  One  of  the  little  fellows  appeared 
upon  a  log  at  the  edge  of  the  water,  and  in  the 
exuberance  of  its  joy,  leaped  so  high  into  the  air 
that  it  lost  its  footing  when  it  again  struck  the  log, 
and  fell  with  a  splash  into  the  water.  But  this 
seemed  to  be  part  of  the  game,  and  the  mouse  was 
out  again  in  a  jiffy,  rolling  on  its  back  like  a  wet 
dog.  Then  away  it  scampered  over  the  water, 
leaping  from  one  lily  pad  to  another,  and  noisily 
disappearing  into  the  top  of  a  fallen  tree. 

One  summer  day,  as  my  boat  was  floating  quietly 
with  the  tide,  my  attention  was  caught  by  the 
unusual  movements  of  some  killies.  The  little  fish 
seemed  to  be  engaged  in  a  game  of  "I  conquer"  or 


HOW  ANIMALS  PLAY  235 

"FOLLOW  THE  LEADER," 

and  were  leaping  over  a  small  raft  of 
salt  hay.  The  killies  were  not  feeding,  the 
closest  scrutiny  failed  to  reveal  a  trace  of  food  on 
the  hay,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  bunch 
of  floating  straw  was  being  used  as  a  plaything  by 
the  aquatic  children. 


A  young  chimpanzee  resembles  a  human  child  so 
closely  that  it  is  not  strange  that  the  play  of  these 
two  children  should  be  similar  in  many  respects; 
but  the  young  troglodyte  is  much  stronger  than  the 
human  infant,  and  consequently  its  play  is  much 
rougher. 

WITH  PLAYFUL  CREATURES 

I  have  found  that  if  an  artist  wants  to 
get  a  sketch  of  them  the  best  way  to  do 
is  to  play  with  them  until  they  get  tired, 


236  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

then,  while  they  are  resting,  he  has  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  make  his  sketches.  But,  in  attempting  to 
follow  this  policy  with  Mr.  Crowley,  I  soon  dis- 
covered that  I  had  over-estimated  my  own  capa- 
bilities and  under-estimated  his. 

I  was  locked  in  the  room  where  Mr.  Crowley 's 
cage  extended  from  one  end  to  the  other,  and,  as 
there  was  no  audience  to  embarrass  us  we  had  high 
jinks  there  for  quite  a  while.  I  would  rush  to  one 
end  of  the  room  and  knock  on  the  floor  with  my 
knuckles.  Mr.  Crowley  would  tear  around  on  his 
knuckles  and  hind  feet  to  that  end  of  the  room, 
availing  himself  of  the  flying  trapeze,  which  hung 
in  his  cage,  to  make  a  giant  leap  which  sent  him 
bang  up  against  the  other  end  of  the  cage,  and  then 
he  would  get  down  on  his  hands  and  knees  to  look 
and  see  where  I  had  knocked,  and  listen  and  pretend 
to  examine  the  place  very  carefully.  Then  looking 
at  me  with  his  comical  eyes,  his  face  would  assume 
an  expression  in  which  there  was  discernible  an  un- 
deniable grin,  which  is  depicted  by  the  sketch  under- 
neath the  one  in  the  northwest  corner  where  he  has 
his  face  down  between  his  hands;  the  next  in- 
stant he  would  scramble  over  to  the  opposite  end 
of  the  cage  and  reach  out  and  knock  on  the  floor 
with  his  knuckles.  It  was  then  my  time  to 
run  and  examine  the  place  where  Crowley  knocked. 
This  and  other  boisterous  sports  and  games 
we  kept  up  until  I  had  to  strip  off  my  coat  and  vest 
and  at  last  fell  exhausted  against  the  steam  heater, 
much  to  the  amusement  of  the  ape. 


A  YOUNG  CHIMPANZEE 


2j8  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

When  vainly  attempting  to  make  a  finished 
drawing  of  another  one  of  these  animals  while  it 
played  with  a  straw,  a  rung  of  a  chair,  and  an  old 
silk  hat,  I  was  compelled  to  laugh  until,  utterly  ex- 
hausted, I  sank  helplessly  upon  a  bench.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  the  sketches  made  under  such  cir- 
cumstances look  more  like  shorthand  notes  made 
by  a  lunatic  than  serious  attempts  at  pictures,  but  I 
learned  much  of  the  ways  of  the  chimpanzee. 

The  sense  of  the  proprieties  of  life  is  undevel- 
oped in  these  animals,  and  this  will  prevent  a  full 
report  ever  being  made  of  their  outrageous  com- 
icalities; but  can  never  prevent  the  witness  of  their 
boisterous  fun  from  enjoying  a  hearty  laugh.  In 
fact,  a  lack  of  appreciation  on  the  part  of  the  audi- 
ence will  often  cause  the  primitive  comedian  to  fly 
into  a  wild  and  ungovernable  fit  of  anger. 

THE   DOMESTIC    PIG 

is  a  much  misunderstood  and  maligned  ani- 
mal. True,  a  pig-sty  is  not  a  New  England 
housewife's  idea  of  cleanliness,  but  it  is  the 
best  the  pig  can  do  under  the  circumstances,  and 
is  never  so  offensive  as  some  of  the  human  sties 
which  answer  for  jails  in  some  parts  of  the  country. 
Like  any  other  prisoner,  the  pig  is  dirty  when  he  is 
forced  to  live  in  filth. 

A  pig  I  once  owned  in  Kentucky  was  so  clean 
that  its  white  bristles  shone  like  spun  glass,  and  the 
pig's  skin  showed  as  pink  as  a  baby's  foot.  There 
was  nothing  this  pig  enjoyed  more  than  a  bath  from 


HOW  ANIMALS  PLAY  239 

the  garden  hose,  unless  it  was  the  game  of  tag  on 
the  lawn,  which  followed  with  its  young  master 
and  the  house  dog. 

WHEN  THE  PIG  WAS 

"It,"  she  would  tag  the  boy  by  using 
her  snout  to  trip  him,  and  tag  the  dog  by 
giving  it  a  toss  into  the  air.  Then  with  "guogh!" 
away  the  hog  would  scamper,  with  the  others  in 
hot  pursuit. 

Not  the  lamb  which  Mary  loved,  but  a  big  horn 
lamb  from  the  Rocky  Mountains,  owned  by  a 
Western  gentleman,  was  wont  to  climb  to  the  top 
of  the  tallest  pieces  of  furniture  in  the  house,  from 
which  it  would  playfully  leap  to  the  floor,  where 
it  landed  stiff  legged  and  with  feet  close  together. 

A  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT  KID 

I  once  met  would  climb  to  my  shoulders  and  jump 
to  the  ground,  and  for  variety's  sake  would  butt 
me  with  its  little,  white,  woolly  head.  I  could  de- 
tect no  difference  in  its  play  from  that  of  the  kid 
of  a  domestic  goat. 

"All  work  and  no  play"  makes  a  Jack  rabbit  as 
dull  as  it  does  a  Jack  boy;  but  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  all  animals  seem  to  use  their  play  as  kin- 
dergarten schooling  for  the  more  serious  pursuits 
of  their  maturer  years.  The  puppy  engages  in  a 
mimic  chase,  the  kitten  stalks  imaginary  mice,  and 
so  the -idea  of  play  developing  the  faculties  runs 
through  all  the  animal  world. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


IN  A  WILD  ANIMAL  REPUBLIC 

IN  THE  GLOAMING — SMALL  NOCTURNAL  ANIMALS — GHOSTS  OF 
THE  CAMP  FIRE — EFFECT  OF  FREEDOM  FROM  PERSECUTION — 
PANTHERS  KILL  FOR  THE  FUN  OF  IT — BAD  GRIZZLY  IS  WAL- 
LOPED WITH  A  STICK  BY  COL.  JONES — SCAVENGERS  OF  THE 
PARK — SOME  BEAR  STORIES — A  THING  MUST  SMELL  LIKE  A 
MAN — RAID  THE  KITCHEN  WAGON — GOOD  RED  BLOOD — • 
HERE  THE  MOUNTAIN  LION  PROWLS — PINE  MARTENS,  FISH- 
ERS, OTTERS,  MINK,  BADGERS,  BEAVER,  GOLDEN  CHIPMUNKS, 
MULE  DEER,  ELK,  MOOSE — PREHISTORIC  ANIMALS — BISON 
AND  BIRDS 

IN  A  WILD  ANIMAL  REPUBLIC. 

All  day  the  July  sun  has  been  shining  with  trop- 
ical heat,  causing  the  crystal  mountain  air  to  shim- 
mer above  the  white,  dusty  roads;  but  now  the  fiery 
ball  is  sinking  behind  the  Sofatara  plateau,  the 
lengthening  shadows  creep  rapidly  eastward  over 
glistening  geyserite  formations,  and  the  coyote 
chorus  proclaims  the  restful  evening.  In  the  gloam- 
ing the  forests  of  pine,  fir,  and  black  spruce  are 
extremely  somber; 'the  camp  fires  shed  a  ruddier 
glow ;  bats  creep  from  the  hollow  trees  and  launch 
themselves  on  noiseless  wings,  and  like  a  flitting 
shadow  the  western  flying  squirrel  sails  by  the 
camper's  face.  As  the  shadows  deepen,  the  small 


IN  A  WILD  ANIMAL  REPUBLIC 


241 


GRIZZLY    CUB    IN    YELLOWSTONE    PARK 
Drawn  from  life.     Bears  in  background  are  from  photographs. 

nocturnal  mammals  come  from  their  subterranean 
homes  and  rustle  among  the  dry  grasses  or  the 
roots  of  the  fringed  gentians  and  Indian  paint 
brushes.  Fresh  from  the  snow  fields  of  the  moun- 
tains, the  cool  night  wind  whispers  among  the 
trees;  objects  near  at  hand  become  vague,  and  the 
increasing  gloom  materializes  into  moving  forms 
which  steal  from  the  shadows  and  troop  down  the 
broad  trail  in  a  cloud  of  dust.  These  apparitions 
are  no  ghosts  of  the  camp  fire,  but  huge  brutes, 
fierce  and  sullen. 


242  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

THEY  ARE  GRIZZLY  BEARS. 

The  surprising  nimbleness  of  these  mighty  ani- 
mals is  a  revelation  to  one  whose  previous  knowl- 
edge of  them  is  derived  from  the  broken-spirited 
prisoners  of  the  menageries.  Gigantic  strength, 
unbounded  courage  and  astounding  tenacity  of  life 
make  the  grizzly  the  most  dangerous  foe. 

FREEDOM  FROM  PERSECUTION 

will  hardly  change  the  nature  of  an  animal,  but  it 
will  allow  him  to  revert  to  the  state  in  which  he 
existed  before  his  persecution  began.  It  is  plain, 
too,  that  the  changed  conditions  will  not  affect  all 
the  animals  alike,  and  that  though  their  wildness 
may  be  greatly  modified,  they  will  still  retain  their 
racial  characteristics.  One  of  the  most  interesting 
results  of  freedom  from  persecution  enjoyed  by 
the  animals  of  the  Yellowstone  Park  is  its  civiliz- 
ing effect  on  the  grizzlies,  which,  beyond  a  doubt, 
now  recognize  their  novel  position,  and  are  loath 
to  bring  scandal  on  the  animal  community  by  acts 
of  real  violence. 

But  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  some  of  the 

BIG  SILVER  TIPS 

are  still  dangerous  to  meddle  with  and  criminally 
mischievous.  While  Colonel  Jones  was  in  charge 
of  the  park  animals  the  grizzlies  became  so  trouble- 
some to  the  foreign  laborers  that  the  latter  threat- 
ened to  quit  work,  so  Buffalo  Jones  fixed  a  noose  on 


A    MISUNDERSTANDING    AMONG   THE    BEARS    OF   YELLOW- 
STONE PARK.     PAINTED  FROM  SKETCHES  AND  NOTES 
MADE  IN  THE  PARK.     (ORIGINAL      OWNED  BY 
MR.    WM.    E.    COFFIN) 


244  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

a  block  and  tackle  and  when  an  impertinent  old  sil- 
ver tip  visited  camp  and  put  its  foot  in  the  noose 
the  workmen  quickly  strung  the  huge  monster  up 
by  the  hind  leg  while  Colonel  Jones  administered 
such  a  flogging  as  no  bear  ever  before  received. 
The  Colonel  exhibited  moving  pictures  of  this  inci- 
dent which  were  as  unique  as  the  idea  of  punishing 
bad,  wild  bears.  In  his  talk  Colonel  Jones  said  that 
after  the  flogging  not  only  that  particular  bear  but 
all  the  others  gave  the  camp  a  wide  berth. 
Not  only  do  the  bears  of  the  park, 

WHEN  UNMOLESTED,  REFRAIN  FROM  ATTACKING 

MAN 

himself,  but  they  seem  to  know  that  they  must 
not  prey  upon  domestic  animals;  this  may  be  due 
to  the  fact  that  it  is  less  labor  to  visit  the  garbage 
heaps  than  to  capture  live  creatures,  but  it  does  not 
arise  from  a  lack  of  opportunity  on  the  part  of 
the  bears  for  their  human-like  footprints  may  be 
seen  any  morning  around  the  stables  and  open 
sheds  where  the  horses  and  cows  are  tethered,  and 
where  it  is  no  uncommon  sight  to  see  little  colts 
frisking  around  about  their  dams. 

The  same  thing  could  not    be    truthfully    said 
about 

THE  MOUNTAIN  LIONS, 

for  these  big  cats,  even  in  the  Yellowstone  Park, 
kill  apparently  for  the  fun  of  killing  and  an  exam- 
ination of  some  of  their  dens  disclosed  more  elk 


IN  A  WILD  ANIMAL  REPUBLIC  245 

carcasses  strewn  about  than  the  cats  could  possibly 
devour. 


BEARS  ARE  THE  SCAVENGERS  OF  THE  PARK, 

as  hogs  formerly  were  in  our  cities.  A  peculiarity 
of  the  grizzlies  is  the  marked  manner  in  which 
they  avoid  their  black  cousins,  preferring  to  eat 
what  the  black  bears  leave  rather  than  to  associate 
with  them. 

A  few  years  ago,  before  the  hotel  at  the  upper 
geyser  basin  was  burned,  the  guests  of  that  hostelry 
were  sitting  around  the  big  open  fire,  telling  bear 
stories,  when  in  walked 

A  LARGE  GLOSSY  BLACK  BEAR. 

Conversation  died,  and  the  guests  sat  silent  and 
motionless  as  the  petrified  trees  at  Yancey's,  until 
the  bear,  bored  by  such  dull  company,  strolled  leis- 
urely to  the  front  door,  looked  out  at  the  bubbling 
geysers,  then  quietly  took  its  departure.  At  Norris 
I  found  the  soldiers  alternately  swearing  because 
bears  had  looted  their  tobacco  and  scattered  it  over 
the  ground,  and  laughing  at  "Larry  the  lunchstand 
man."  This  talkative  and  genial  Irishman  thought 
he  could  protect  his  meat  house  from  the  bruin  by 
erecting  scarecrows  at  the  four  corners  of  the 
house,  but  when  night  came  on  the  bears  pulled  the 
stuffed  men  to  pieces. 


246  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Bears,  like  dogs,  have  keen  noses,  and 

A  THING  MUST  SMELL  LIKE  A  MAN 

before  a  bear  will  think  it  a  man.  Late  one  after- 
noon, as  we  were  nearing  the  end  of  a  long  drive, 
an  exclamation  from  my  wife  caused  me  to  rein  up 
my  horses,  and  turn  in  my  seat.  At  the  side  of 
the  road  were  two  camps  of  family  parties  located 
in  a  beautiful  green  glade,  separated  from  each 
other  only  by  a  deep,  narrow  gully.  Seated  in  the 
bottom  of  this  hollow  was  the  largest,  fattest, 
laziest-looking  black  bear  we  had  seen  in  the  park. 
It  was  in  plain  view  of  the  road,  but  concealed 
from  the  campers.  A  few  feet  from  its  hiding 
place  children  were  romping  and  playing,  uncon- 
scious of  its  presence,  and  the  big  brute  paid  no 
attention  to  the  shouts  and  laughter  of  the  little 
folks,  but  idly  swayed  its  head  from  side  to  side 
with  a  comical  expression  of  weariness.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  bear  was  evident.  It  was  .waiting  for 
the  campers  to  retire,  that  it  might 

RAID  THEIR  KITCHEN   WAGONS. 

We  afterwards  learned  that  the  noise  it  made  in 
clambering  into  the  wagon  aroused  the  cook,  who 
drove  the  fat  rascal  away  by  pounding  its  back  with 
a  tent  pole. 

Yellowstone  Park  is  to  the  birds  and  mammals 
of  this  country  a  place  of  refuge  from  persecution. 
It  is  indeed  unique  in  being  the  first  place  where 


248  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

man  has  allowed  the  preamble  of  the  immortal 
Declaration  of  Independence  to  apply  to  his  unde- 
veloped brothers  of  the  wilderness;  and  the  only 
zoological  collection,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
the  Garden  of  Eden,  where  animals  have  been  in- 
trusted with  self  government. 

It  is  astonishing  what  a  remarkable  difference 
there  is  in  appearance  between  the  healthy  animals 
and  the  old-fashioned  stuffed  museum  specimens  of 
the  same  creatures.  Indeed,  so  great  is  the  dis- 
parity, that  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  identify  many 
of  the  living  birds  or  mammals  from  a  previous 
study  of  mounted  specimens. 

The  healthy  bodies  of  the  citizens  of  the  Wild 
Animal  Republic,  unlike  many  museum  specimens, 
are  not  stretched  out  of  all  semblance  to  nature. 
No  odor  of  camphor  or  other  drugs  emanates  from 
them,  and  no  printed  labels  give  you  their  names 
in  a  language  as  dead  as  the  stuffed  specimens.  But 
with 

GOOD,  RED  BLOOD  COURSING  THROUGH  THEIR 
VEINS 

the  agile  citizens  of  the  Park  are  a  surprise  and  a 
pleasure  to  all  lovers  of  nature.  It  is  only  fair  to 
the  new  school  of  taxidermists  to  say  that  the  fore- 
going  was  written  before  the  modern  artistic  man- 
ner of  mounting  animals  and  birds,  such  as  may  be 
seen  at  the  Natural  History  museum  in  Central 
Park,  was.  in  vogue. 


IN  A  WILD  ANIMAL  REPUBLIC  249 

Instances  are  not  wanting  in  which  stage  roads 
and  even  hotel  lobbies  have  been  visited  by  strange 
guests;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  animals  must  be  sought 
in  their  native  haunts. 

HERE  THE  MOUNTAIN   LION  PROWLS 

as  he  did  before  Columbus  blundered  on  America. 
The  lynx  mounts  a  log,  arches  its  back  and  gives 
forth  youghs  and  calls  that  would  make  a  domestic 
cat  die  of  envy.  The  wolverine  prowls  in  search 
of  its  dinner,  feeling  certain  that  its  food  conceals 
no  cruel  trap. 

THE  PINE  MARTIN  AND  THE   FISHER 

no  longer  dread  to  crawl  under  a  log  for  fear  of 
displacing  a  trigger  and  being  crushed. 

THE  BRIGHT  EYED  OTTER  AND  MINK 

look  not  for  human  enemies ;  muskrats  and  beavers 
build  their  winter  homes  practically  undisturbed 
by  the  trapper.  Several  varieties  of  foxes  glide 
noiselessly  through  the  low  bushes,  unmolested  by 
hounds  and  men. 

BADGERS  SPREAD  THEIR  WIDE  BODIES 

to  catch  the  genial  rays  of  the  sun.  Beautifully 
colored  living  marmots,  or  urock  chucks"  run 
ahead  of  your  team  along  the  rocky  roadsides,  or 
peep  at  you  from  their  fantastic  castles,  built  of 


250  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

snowy  geyserite  deposited  by  geysers  extinct  years 
ago.  The  yellow  porcupine  gnaws  contentedly  at 
his  favorite  food.  Cotton  tails,  snow  shoes  and 
jack  rabbits  fear  none  but  their  natural  wild  ene- 
mies, and  little  chief  hares  abound  in  the  slide 
rock.  Along  the  dusty  roads 

BIG  GOLDEN   CHIPMUNKS 

and  little  four-striped  chipmunks  play  and  scold 
passing  teams.  These  creatures  are  so  tame  they 
do  not  hesitate  to  enter  your  tent,  and  they  live 
royally  on  grain  stored  in  the  Transportation  Com- 
panies' stables.  From  the  woods  by  the  roadside 
the 

GRACEFUL  MULE-DEER 

and  rarer  white-tailed  deer  gaze  with  innocent  curi- 
osity at  stage  loads  of  tourists,  never  suspecting 
that,  but  for  an  intangible  thing  called  law,  these 
people  would  be  their  blood-thirsty  enemies.  Moose 
wander  in  the  forest  glades  at  the  southern  boun- 
dary of  the  Park,  and  scattered  over  Hayden  Val- 
ley many  thousand  magnificent  elk  roam  free. 
Recent  discoveries  of  the  remains  of 

PREHISTORIC  ANIMALS, 

which  once  inhabited  the  Far  West,  and  which  have 
been  so  beautifully  illustrated  by  Charles  R. 
Knight,  should  make  us  put  a  high  value  on  exist- 
ing species.  The  two-ton,  four-horned  rhinoceros, 


I 


- 


YOUNG  BIG  GAME   IN  YELLOWSTONE   PARK 


252  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

the  ungainly,  water-loving  Metamynodon,  the 
strange,  horse-like  rhinoceros,  the  diminutive  four- 
toed  horse,  the  giant  pigs,  and  the  hobgoblin  deer 
with  tusks  and  six  horns  are  a  few  samples  of  the 
nightmare  creatures  whose  comical  forms  popu- 
lated the  hills  and  plains  of  those  remote  days; 
they  were  caricatures  of  our  living  species. 
Like  any  human  child, 

MOTHER  NATURE'S  FIRST  ATTEMPTS  AT  MODELING 

were  crude  affairs,  compared  with  the  fine  work 
of  her  present  art.  It  took  ages  of  experiment  to 
produce  the  dainty,  swift,  and  graceful  prong- 
horned  antelope  and  it  is  a  masterpiece  of  art. 
There  are  still  several  hundred  of  these  gentle  lit- 
tle citizens  in  the  Park;  but  a  fence  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  their  preservation,  and  should  be  built 
to  prevent  them  from  straying  over  the  boundary, 
as  they  do,  to  be  immediately  killed  by  game  hogs. 

THE  BIGHORN, 

or  Rocky  Mountain  sheep,  can  be  seen  by  climbing 
']Mt.  Evarts,  or  some  other  high  peak  of  the  Park. 
They  have  been  so  persecuted  that  it  will  be  long 
before  they  will  frequent  lower  ground.  There 
were  about  200  in  the  Park  at  the  time  this  was 
written.  With  care  this  number  can  be  increased. 
Inasmuch  as  these  creatures  will  soon  be  extermi- 
nated elsewhere,  it  is  important  that  every  care 


IN  A  WILD  ANIMAL  REPUBLIC  253 

be  taken  by  our  rich  government  to  protect  the 
survivors  here. 
We  ask  why 

THE  HERD  OF  YELLOWSTONE  BUFFALO 

has  been  so  sadly  reduced,  and  we  are  told  that 
grizzlies  and  hard  winters  have  destroyed  them. 
For  thousands  of  years  grizzlies  and  hard  winters 
were  features  of  the  buffalo  country,  and  yet  the 
buffaloes  thrived  and  waxed  strong. 

Buffalo  heads  are  in  great  demand.  Fine  ones 
command  extravagant  prices.  Buffalo  skins  are 
eagerly  sought  by  museums  and  wealthy  people  and 
I  was  told  that  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Park 
purchasers  had  paid  as  high  as  $2.00  a  pound  for 
buffalo  steak.  The  very  bones  of  these  animals 
are  in  demand,  for  anatomical  specimens  for  mu- 
seums ;  hence  a  wild  buffalo  is  looked  on  as  a  small 
fortune  walking  around  without  an  owner.  Is  it 
any  wonder,  then,  that  skin  hunters,  adventurers, 
and  settlers  have  turned  poachers  at  the  sight  of 
these  poor  beasts?  These  people  have  no  more 
heart  than  an  automobile  to  restrain  them,  and  the 
slight  penalties  for  poaching  were  easily  evaded. 

In  1892  Captain  George  Alexander  reported  a 
herd  of  400  bison  in  the  Park,  20  per  cent,  of  which 
were  yearlings,  and  in  1900  there  were  but  twenty- 
nine  ! 

Among  the  many  strange  sights  one  sees  in  the 
Park  are  the  hundreds  of  swallows  twittering  and 
flying  around  the  cliff  overlooking  the  boiling  sul- 


254  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

phur  springs.  Unmindful  of  the  fumes  of  sulphur, 
the  proximity  of  scalding  steam,  and  the  alarm- 
ing subterranean  noises,  these  little  birds  skim 
through  the  air  and  enter  the  queer  holes  and 
cracks  in  the  cliff,  as  cheerful  and  happy  as  house 
martens  in  a  farmyard. 

At  the  sound  of  the  rumbling  of  the  Fountain 
Hotel  wagon,  which  hauls  garbage  to  the  dump- 
ing grounds,  bears  appear,  and,  along  with  them 
comes  a 

PRETTY   YELLOW-COATED,    RED-THROATED    LOUISI- 
ANA TANAGER. 

This  little  bird  moves  unmolested  among  its  big 
neighbors  seeking  for  dainties  in  the  cast-away 
food.  Nowadays  it  is  a  surprise  and  a  joy  to  see 
a  bird  of  brilliant  plumage 'alive  and  in  its  native 
haunts,  instead  of  perched  askew  on  a  woman's 
hat. 

On  Yellowstone  Lake  and  on  Yellowstone  River 

PELICANS  MAY  BE  SEEN 

floating  or  sailing  in  the  air  overhead.  The  sight 
of  free  wild  pelicans  conveys  an  impression 
strangely  different  from  that  obtained  by  viewing 
the  same  bird  in  captivity,  where  its  long  beak,  with 
its  fleshy  bag  attached,  gives  the  creature  a  comical, 
clumsy  look,  and  little  prepares  us  for  the  grace- 
ful bird  seen  in  the  Park. 


\ 


PELICANS  IN  YELLOWSTONE  NATIONAL  PARK 


256  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

GEESE  AND  DUCKS 

are  numerous  and  tame.  At  one  place  wild  geese 
marched  along  the  bank  of  a  stream  within  twenty 
feet  of  our  surrey,  and  viewed  us  without  alarm. 
The  ducks  only  showed  their  distrust  by  placing 
themselves  between  us  and  their  fluffy  little  broods. 
Swans  are  rarer  and  wilder.  As  might  be  expected, 
birds  of  prey  are  numerous  and  bold.  The  crags 
are  crowded  with  their  eyries,  and  every  bit  of 
open  grass  land  has  its  hovering  hawks,  on  the 
lookout  for  unwary  shrews,  moles,  or  gophers. 
Many  varieties  of  grouse  inhabit  the  woods  and 
prairies,  and  in  winter  numbers  of  beautiful  mag- 
pies. The  hoarse  croak  of  the  raven  can  be  heard 
at  the  Thumb,  and  crows  are  seen  in  all  parts  of 
the  Park.  The  black-headed  jay,  a  variety  which 
was  new  to  me,  and  the  Canadian  jay,  are  not  only 
tame,  but  mischievous.  Having  occasion  to  use  my 
pocket  knife,  I  placed  it  temporarily  on  a  stump 
near  camp,  and  after  twice  saving  it,  by  shouts  and 
mad  rushes,  I  was  at  last  compelled  to  put  it  in 
my  pocket  to  prevent  the  jays  from  carrying  it 
away. 

While  many  of  the  smaller  birds  are  new  or  un- 
familiar to  Atlantic  coast  people,  their  old  friend, 
the  robin,  makes  his  home  in  the  Park. 

THE  INTERESTING  LITTLE  WATER  OUSEL 

bobs  up  and  down  on  the  rocks  and  dives  into 
the  water  of  the  Gardiner  and  the  Gibbon,  and 
kingfishers  are  common. 


IN  A  WILD  ANIMAL  REPUBLIC  257 

WE  HAVE  ALL  READ  OF  OSPREYS, 

which,  having  struck  fish  too  large  for  them  to 
manage,  unable  to  disengage  their  hooked  talons, 
have  perished,  their  bodies  having  been  afterward 
found,  still  attached  to  the  live  fish. 

I  am  now  prepared  to  believe  these  sto- 
ries. One  day  we  were  driving  along  the 
shores  of  Yellowstone  Lake,  and  saw  an 
osprey  fall  like  a  stone  from  the  sky,  into 
the  water  and  disappear  beneath  the  waves. 
Thinking  it  had  been  drowned,  we  were  about  to 
resume  our  journey,  when  the  fluttering  tips  of  the 
hawk's  wings  appeared.  The  bird  slowly  arose 
with  an  immense  fish  in  its  talons,  but  after  three 


WILD   GEESE   CN   THE   ROADSIDE 


258  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

times  clearing  the  water,  only  to  fall  back  again, 
it  dropped  the  fish  and  flew  wearily  away. 

To  understand  the  Yellowstone  animals  we  must 
remember  the  brutes  are  direct  and  practical  in 
their  minds,  and  to  what  does  not  immediately  con- 
cern the  gratification  of  their  desires  they  pay  little 
attention. 

Fear  greatly  influences  the  actions  of  man  and 
beast,  and  creatures  absolutely  devoid  of  this  gov- 
erning principle  would  soon  be  exterminated.  The 
presence  of  man  has  always  meant  disaster  and 
death  to  wild  animals,  so  that  the  taint  of  his  pres- 
ence in  the  air  is  enough  to  stampede  a  herd  of  a 
thousand  elk. 

It  is  easy,  then,  to  understand  that  "wild  ani- 
mals" are  only  animals  which  fear  man;  and  when 
experience  can  show  their  fears  groundless,  they 
will  no  more  heed  man  than  they  will  any  other 
harmless  creature.  This  is  the  happy  state  which 
converts  Yellowstone  Park  into  an  Eden  for  all 
lovers  of  nature. 

Long  live  the  Animal  Republic! 


CHAPTER  XX. 


BEARS  I  HAVE  MET 

EFFECT  OF  FIRE  ARMS  ON  THE  HABITS  OF  AMERICAN  BIG  GAME — 
GRIZZLY  BEARS  FEEDING — OUGH — OO — GO! — THE  HATED 
TAINT  ON  THE  BREEZE — IT  WAS  VERY,  VERY,  INTERESTING — 
A  LONELY  TRAIL — A  BRILLIANT  IDEA —  I  LET  THEM  SNIFF — • 
A  BLACK  BEAR  WHO  WAS  STOPPING  AT  THE  SAME  HOTEL — 
THE  UNFORTUNATE  ROOSTER — A  BEAR  IN  THE  SUBURBS  OF 
A  CITY — THE  SAD  STORY  OF  GENTLE  MR.  DOOLEY  WHO  IS  A 
MISS — THE  BEAR  I  DID  NOT  KILL 

The  panther,  the  wolf,  the  deer,  the  fox  and  the 
hordes  of  smaller  creatures  walk  on  the  tips  of  their 
fingers  and  the  ends  of  their  toes  and  are  each  and 
all  graceful  after  their  kind,  but  Bruin  walks  on 
the  soles  of  his  feet  and  the  palms  of  his  hands 
leaving  a  trail  in  the  mud  or  dust  not  unlike  the 
tracks  left  by  a  barefooted  boy;  this  plantigrade 
habit  of  the  bear  gives  the  creature  an  odd  wab- 
bling gait  which,  with  the  big  awkward  appearing 
body,  adds  much  to  the  comical  appearance  of  the 
mischief-loving  natural  humorist  of  the  wild  woods. 

After  studying  the  black  bear  in  its  wild  state  in 
the  forests  and  mountains,  in  its  semi-wild  state 
in  the  Yellowstone  Park,  and  in  its  tame  state  when 
kept  as  a  pet,  it-  is  difficult  for  one  to  conceive  of 
this  creature  as  ever  being  an  alarmingly  danger- 

259 


260  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ous  wild  beast.  On  the  contrary  the  black  bear 
seems  to  be  the  acknowledged  comedian  and  clown 
of  the  American  forest. 

How  dangerous  Bruin  was  before  our  ancestors 
brought  their  unwieldly  arquebuses  with  them  to 
this  country  is  not  easy  to  determine.  The  intro- 
duction of  firearms  to  replace  the  bows  and  arrows 
of  the  Indians  has  unquestionably  changed  the  hab- 
its of  all  creatures  unfortunate  enough  to  be  classed 
under  the  head  of  game. 

When  Bruin  saw  the  first  white  man  with  a  gun, 
and  saw  how  this  stranger  udid  well  and  properly 
take  a  match  out  of  the  left  hand  with  the  thumb 
and  second  finger,  holding  the  arquebus  in  due 
height,  as  well  for  ease  as  for  safety,"  Bruin  was 
no  doubt  deeply  impressed,  and  when  the  bear  saw 
how  this  white  two-legged  animal  "did  bring  the 
match  handsomely  near  his  mouth  and  did  blow  off 
the  match  before  he  did  put  it  upon  the  Cock  and 
set  the  piece  against  his  breast" — not  against  the 
shoulder — Bruin's  curiosity  must  have  been  greatly 
excited;  but  when  this  hand  cannon  at  last  belched 
forth  a  stream  of  fire  accompanied  by  a  thunder- 
ous report,  the  poor  bear  was  without  doubt  terri- 
fied, although  probably  uninjured. 

Since  that  day  there  came  the  Daniel  Boones 
with  their  long  deadly  "Kaintuck"  rifles  and  they 
taught  Bruin  to  dread  the  accuracy  of  firearms  in 
the  hands  of  men  with  whom  powder  and  shot 
were  scarce  and  consequently  not  wasted :  men  who 
shot  to  kill  with  each  discharge  of  their  long  brass- 


BEARS  I  HAVE  MET  261 

mounted  guns.  Nowadays  every  Tom,  Dick  and 
Harry  is  armed  with  a  lead  pumping  machine 
which  pours  a  succession  of  soft  nosed  bullets  into 
the  devoted  carcass  of  any  luckless  wild  creature 
that  is  unfortunate  enough  to  cross  the  path  of  the 
butchers. 

The  terrible  execution  of  these  modern  fire- 
arms in  the  hands  of  good  shots  is  apparent  when- 
ever one  of  the  real  hunters  brings  in  his  trophies. 
Not  long  ago  old  Joe  of  Arizona  drove  into 
Globe  with  five  grizzly  bearskins  and  the  pelts  of 
fourteen  black  bear  which  were  the  results  accom- 
plished by  Joe  and  his  two  sons  in  a  two-day  hunt 
in  Gila  County. 

When  two  men  can  make  such  a  score  we  can 
understand  that  the  wild  animals  we  know,  may 
well  be  a  very  timid  set  of  creatures  compared  to 
the  ones  which  inhabited  the  forest-covered  conti- 
nent to  which  the  Pilgrims  emigrated.  But  the 
black  bear  has  grown  wise,  and  the  fact  that  it  still 
may  be  found  almost  anywhere  in  the  United 
States,  sufficiently  proves  that  it  has  kept  up  with 
the  times  and  developed  an  ability  to  accommodate 
itself  to  changed  conditions  of  environment. 

The  locomotive  of  an  Erie  Railroad  train  killed 
a  black  bear  last  year,  within  a  hundred  and  sev- 
enteen miles  of  the  New  York  City  postoffice,  and 
I  saw  bear  tracks  this  (1907)  summer  near  my 
log  house,  where  I  am  now  writing,  a  day  and  a 
half  drive  from  New  York.  Notwithstanding  the 
advent  of  modern  guns  and  a  price  on  his 


262  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

head,  Bruin  still  manages  to  exist  and  is 
even  reported  to  be  increasing  in  numbers  in 
some  sections  of  the  country.  Bear  pelts  and  meat 
are  deemed  so  Valuable  in  the  Province  of  Quebec 
that  the  animals  are  protected  during  the  mating 
season.  Only  last  June  (1907)  I  counted  thirteen 
black  bear  skulls  at  one  camp  on  the  River  Croche 
in  the  Province  of  Quebec.  Beautiful  big  silver 
tipped  black  bear  are  reported  to  live  far  North 
near  one  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Posts  on  the  Labrador 
coast,  but  I  have  never  seen  a  pelt  or  met  a  man 
who  has  examined  either  the  skin  or  the  bear  itself. 
In  the  Northwest,  bear  can  be  hunted  from 
canoes;  I  have  seen  them  come  down  to  feed 
among  the  refuse  of  the  lake  shores,  and  passen- 
gers aboard  the  up-to-date  modern  steamers  on 
Kootenay,  Arrow  and  Slocum  Lakes,  are  often 
treated  to  the  sight  of  real  wild  bears  walking 
along  the  shore  and  paying  not  the  slightest  atten- 
tion to  the  big  steamboat  loaded  with  people.  In 
1901,  I  saw  a  number  on  the  shores  of  these  lakes. 

GRIZZLIES  WHEN  FEEDING 

seem  to  wish  for  no  company  outside  of  their  own 
circle,  and  if  a  person  wishes  to  see  them  at  their 
feasts  he  must  usually  seek  the  shelter  of  a  rock, 
a  choke-cherry,  bull-berry,  or  sage-bush,  from 
which  to  make  his  observations.  A  number  of 
years  ago  while  camping  on  the  southern  border 
of  the  Yellowstone  Park  where  the  animals  were 
still  wild,  the  wind  suddenly  shifted  and  blew  di- 


\JRv%) 


wQV& 


**\&*Zi 


<^; 


// 


BLACK   BEAR    CUBS,    EIGHTEEN   DAYS    OLD.     SKETCHED 
FROM  LIFE 


264  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

rect  from  my  hiding  place  towards  an  old  female 
grizzly  who  was  busily  engaged  in  helping  a  light, 
almost  white,  cub  and  its  dust-colored  mate  clean 
up  some  camp  refuse.  Instantly  the  grey  cub  de- 
tected my  presence;  rearing  on  its  hind  legs,  the 
baby  Bruin  sniffed  the  tainted  air  a  moment  and 
then  said:  "I  smell  a  man." 

OUGH — oo — oo. 

This  startled  the  other  cub  which  also  stood  up, 
and  after  a  whiff  of  the  breeze  had  entered  its 
sensitive  nostrils,  replied:  "Wee — ee — e"  (We  are 
watched).  "Oo — wee — ee"  (Yes,  its  a  man). 
Now  Mother  Bruin  arose  to  her  feet  and  she  was 
very  tall  and  closely  resembled  an  old  dry  tree 
trunk  in  the  twilight,  she  was  also  as  motionless 
as  a  stump  until  she  too  caught 

THE  HATED  TAINT  ON  THE  BREEZE, 

then  she  made  some  low-toned  remarks  to  her  chil- 
dren which  sounded  like  "Oughed — oue — wee — 
oo!"  and  they  all  silently  disappeared.  Of  course 
the  reader  understands  that  the  translations  of  the 
bears'  language  are  my  own,  but  if  the  words  are 
not  literal,  the  meaning  is,  for  no  one  could  doubt 
the  meaning  of  the  actions  of  the  bears. 

IT  WAS  VERY,  VERY  INTERESTING, 

but  to  my  dismay  the  bears  hit  the  same  trail  that 
I  must  needs  follow  to  reach  my  tent  where  my 


BEARS  I  HAVE  MET  265 

good  little  wife  was  awaiting  my  return.  The  trail 
was  a  lonely  one,  abounding  in  tall  grey  stumps 
and  the  shades  of  night  were  approaching.  Lin- 
gering around  to  give  the  bears  a  good  fair  start 
I  met  a  big  rough  Western  barkeeper  and  a  packer 
for  a  lot  of  pack  horses.  Both  of  these  men  be- 
longed in  a  camp  up  beyond  mine  on  the  same 
trail  so  I  evolved  a  brilliant  idea.  I  would  let  them 
go  first.  With  this  plan  fixed  I  engaged  in  a 
game  of  mumbly-peg  with  a  soldier  from  another 
camp.  But  bless  my  soul,  the  packer  and  the  bar- 
keeper became  so  deeply  interested  in  our  game 
that  I  suspected  that  they  saw  through  mine.  At 
any  rate  it  was  soon  evident  that  all  three  men 
were  each  waiting  for  one  or  the  other  to  lead,  so 
shutting  up  my  pocket-knife,  with  which  I  had  been 
playing  mumbly-peg,  with  a  snap  and  shutting 
my  teeth  together  in  the  same  way,  I  started  down 
the  now  dark  trail  with  the  packer  following  me 
and  the  big  barkeeper  following  the  packer. 

Each  grey  stump  which  loomed  up  in  the  gloam- 
ing caused  me  to  stop  to  let  the  packer  lead,  but  he 
did  not  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  and 
neither  did  the  barkeeper. 

That  night  I  was  awakened  by  some  large  ani- 
mals sniffing  the  hem  of  our  canvass  house;  as 
I  was  only  armed  with  a  five-ounce  trout  rod, 

I  LET  THEM  SNIFF. 

In  the  morning  I  was  not  surprised  to  find  the 
big  human-like  footprints  of  a  mother  bear 


266  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

mingled  with  the  smaller  ones  of  her  cubs  in  the 
dust  around  the  tent;  but  the  only  harm  done  was 
the  stampeding  of  the  camp  cow  which  was  not 
found  for  several  days.  I  carefully  kicked  the 
dust  over  Bruin's  footprints,  for  Mrs.  Beard  is 
only  afraid  of  bears  and  snakes.  Of  course  I  said 
nothing  to  her  about  the  incident,  although  I  was 
sorely  tempted  to  boast  of  my  own  bravery. 

A  BLACK  BEAR  WHO  WAS  STOPPING  AT  THE  SAME 
HOTEL 

with  me  became  quite  friendly  and  whenever  I 
returned  from  business,  at  noon  or  in  the  evening, 
Bruin  would  be  waiting  for  me  in  the  hotel  yard. 
The  front  fence  was  a  high  board  one  and  faced 
the  main  street;  Bruin's  chain  allowed  him  to 
reach  the  fence,  but  it  was  too  short  for  him  to 
climb  over  to  the  street,  so  he  would  sit  on  a  pack- 
ing case  and  swing  one  arm  on  the  outside  of  the 
fence  and  watch  for  me.  As  soon  as  I  hove  in 
sight  he  would  exhibit  the  greatest  pleasure  by 
expression  and  action  and  greet  me  with  an  idiotic 
grin  that  was  very  amusing.  The  bear  knew  that 
in  my  pocket  there  was  a  pint  of  chestnuts  and  he 
dearly  loved  chestnuts. 

One  noon  I  was  feeding  him  as  usual  and  he 
was  dexterously  removing  the  shells  and  devouring 
the  white  kernels  with  relish,  but  not  without 
losing  some  crumbs;  this  fact  was  observed  by  a 
big  young  rooster  which  slyly  approached  us  in 
order  to  pick  up 


8 

P  c/5 

.  Q 

«  o 


s 


O  c/5 


268  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

THE  CRUMBS  WHICH  FELL  FROM  BRUIN'S  MOUTH 
as  he  chewed  the  chestnuts.  Bruin  had  not  oc- 
cupied the  same  position  while  feeding,  and  con- 
sequently the  crumbs  were  strewn  over  a  yard 
or  more  of  the  ground. 

Slyly  the  cock  approached,  picking  greedily  at 
the  crumbs  but  keeping  his  weather  eye  upon  the 
bear.  The  bear  did  not  appear  to  see  the  chicken 
but  no  sooner  had  the  unfortunate  fowl  come 
within  reach  than  the  bear  gave  a  left  hook  swing 
which  sent  the  rooster  through  the  air  for  about 
twenty  feet  where  it  struck  with  a  "swat"  against 
a  shed  and  fell  dead  on  the  ground.  It  was  a 
most  skillful  and  terrific  blow  and  taught  me  to 
respect  a  bear's  ability  as  a  boxer,  but  Bruin  did 
not  seem  to  think  that  he  had  done  anything 
worthy  of  notice,  and  when  I  turned  from  the 
chicken  to  the  bear,  the  latter  was  calmly  holding 
out  his  powerful  paw  in  a  supplicating  pose  dumbly 
asking  for  more  chestnuts. 

MEETING  A  BIG  BEAR  IN  THE  SUBURBS  OF 
CINCINNATI. 

Once  when  surveying  a  section  line  on  the  Lower 
River  Road  in  Cincinnati,  I  had  my  instrument 
planted  on  the  top  of  the  hill  and  had  sent  a  flag- 
man down  to  plant  his  red  and  white  painted  staff 
on  a  marked  stone  so  that  I  might  get  the  line. 
It  was  a  long  sight  and  I  was  following  the  flag- 
man with  the  telescope  of  the  instrument  when 
I  was  surprised  to  see  him  give  a  jump,  drop  his 


BEARS  I  HAVE  MET  269 

flag-staff  and  run,  and  was  even  more  surprised  to 
behold  a  big  bear  standing  on  its  hind  legs  under 
a  tree.  In  those  days  there  were  large  country 
estates,  farms  and  woods  in  what  was  known  as 
the  Southwestern  Division,  but  I  had  never  met 
any  wild  animal  larger  than  a  fox  while  at  work 
on  the  topographical  survey.  Presently  I  saw  a 
swarthy  black-bearded  man  under  the  tree  and 
saw  that  he  was  eating  a  loaf  of  black  bread,  and 
then  I  knew  that  the  bear  was  a  tame  dancing  bear. 
Turning  the  telescope  full  upon  the  animal  and 
adjusting  the  focus  I  could  plainly  see  the  leather 
strap  muzzle  on  the  brute  and  the  chain  which 
confined  it  to  the  limits  of  the  shade  of  the  tree. 
It  was  some  time,  however,  before  I  could  in- 
duce the  flagman  to  proceed  with  his  work  and 
I  was  hoarse  from  shouting  when  he  at  last  picked 
up  his  staff  and  started  again  down  the  line. 

MR.  .DOOLEY:     HER    STORY.  . 

If  one  may  say  "The  Liner,  she's  a  lady"  as 
Kipling  does,  and  speaks  of  a  man-of-war  as  a  she 
as  sailors  do,  there  is  no  real  reason  why  one  should 
not  say 

UMR.   DOOLEY,   SHE  IS  A   LADY," 

for  if  gentleness  is  a  characteristic  of  ladies,  Mr. 
Dooley  is  certainly  entitled  to  that  title,  but  she  was 
a  vicious  cub. 

A  few  years  ago,  Mr.  Walker,  of  the  Yellow- 
stone Park,  while  on  horseback,  ran  down  a  sil- 


270  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ver-tip  cub,  and  when  I  sketched  it  the  cub  was 
fastened  to  a  tree. 

The  cub  was  named  Mr.  Dooley,  but  there  was 
some  mistake  in  this,  as  the  young  monster  was 
not  a  mister,  as  it  appears  "he"  was  a  she. 

I  placed  my  sketching  stool  just  out  of  reach 
of  the  cub,  and,  while  I  worked  with  my  pencil, 
Mr.  Dooley  spent  her  time  scraping  the  dirt  with 
her  paws,  making  long  canals  in  the  loose  earth 
as  she  backed  away,  but  all  the  time  keeping  her 
wicked  little  pig  eyes  fastened  on  me. 

Every  once  in  a  while  she  would  make  a  sudden 
savage  rush  at  me  and  end  it  with  a  half-strangled, 
gurgling  growl. 

When  the  season  was  over,  the  commander  of 
the  post  stated  that  he  intended  to  send  Mr. 
Dooley  to  the  Washington  Zoo.  This  grieved 
Mr.  Walker,  until  the  late  Major  Bach  innocently 
asked  if  Dooley  never  escaped,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing it  was  discovered  that  Dooley  .ha d  escaped. 

In  the  following  spring,  when  Mrs.  Walker  ar- 
rived with  her  husband  at  the  canon,  to  open  the 
hotel,  Dooley  was  waiting  to  greet  them  on  the 
broad  veranda. 

Time  rolled  on,  and  Dooley  became  a  favorite 
visitor  at  the  camps,  and  it  was  not  an  unusual 
sight  to  see  a  great,  hulking,  silver-tip  bear 
wrestling  with  the  guides  and  enjoying  the  fun  as 
much  as  the  astonished  spectators. 

Dooley,  although  a  very,  very  bad  little  cub, 
broadened,  both  in  mind  and  body  as  she  grew 


GRIZZLY  CUB  "DOOLEY"  IN  YELLOWSTONE  PARK 


272  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

older,  and  adopted  the  Golden  Rule  as  her  moral 
code;  but  this  was  a  sad  mistake  on  the  bear's 
part.  There  perhaps  never  was  a  more  gentle, 
better-hearted  bear  than  Mr.  Dooley,  the  great 
grizzly  of  Yellowstone  Park.  Far  better  would  it 
have  been  for  the  lady  bear  with  a  gentleman's 
name  if  she  had  adhered  closely  to  the  traditions 
of  her  race  and  developed  into  a  surly,  gruff,  dan- 
gerous old  girl,  in  place  of  the  gentle,  sweet-tem- 
pered creature  she  really  made  of  herself.  True, 
she  would  not  have  been  petted  and  fed  with 
prunes  and  sweetmeats,  but  she  would  have  been 
much  happier  than  she  now  is,  poor  thing! 

The  trouble  with  Mr.  Dooley  is  that  she  made 
the  mistake  of  applying  the  Golden  Rule  to  human 
beings,  and  the  human  beings  did  not  appreciate 
the  generous  nature  of  the  bear. 

Human  beings  are  all  right  when  they  preach 
and  when  they  write,  but  their  brothers  in  fur  will 
do  well  not  to  trust  to  the  sincerity  of  the  two- 
legged  creatures'  sentiments. 

Because  the  gentle  grizzly  of  Yellowstone  Park 
was  guileless  and  unsuspicious,  she  (Mr.  Dooley) 
was  led  into  captivity,  and  is  now  imprisoned  in 
a  narrow  iron-barred  cell  in  the  Washington  Zoo. 

And  when  the  readers  visit  Washington,  and  see 
a  big  grizzly  with  its  tongue  lolling  out  of  its 
mouth,  and  a  far-away  look  in  its  eyes,  they  may 
know  that  it  is  the  lady  bear,  known  as  Mr. 
Dooley,  of  Yellowstone  Park,  and  that  the  poor 
girl  is  dreaming  of  her  free  life  in  the  mountains, 


BEARS  I  HAVE  MET 


273 


ENJOYING  A  "SLIPPERY" 

or  her  real  friends,  the  guides  and  cooks  of  the 
camps,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walker  of  the  Canon 
Hotel. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  visitors  will  take  with  them 
some  little  green  thing — turnips,  apples,  or  any 
vegetable  which  will  gladden  the  heart  of  the  lady 
bear  who  trusted  man  to  her  sorrow. 

THE  BEAR  I  DID  NOT  KILL. 

George  and  I  were  fishing  in  the  mouth  of  a 
glacier  stream  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  as  we 


274  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

drifted  amid  the  swirling  eddies  a  dark  object  on 
the  distant  shore  caught  my  attention.  It  was  a 
bear  and  we  were  short  of  meat  at  camp,  and 
George  insisted  that  I  must  get  that  bear;  so  with 
some  reluctance  I  shot  at  it  with  my  Winchester, 
and  it  gave  utterance  to  several  vigorous  "Oughs!" 
and  vanished. 

When  we  landed,  my  friend  stopped  and  picked 
up  a  bunch  of  brown  hair  between  his  fingers. 
"You  burnt  him  all  right  with  tha'  first  shot," 
he  said.  "The  bullet  went  right  along  his  back- 
bone through  his  hair,  and  here  'tis  in  this  log." 

I  was  disappointed,  although  I  did  hate  to 
shoot  the  bear,  disappointed  because  I  made  a  bad 
shot,  but  after  examining  some  tell-tale  marks  on 
the  shore  I  felt  better. 

"George,"  I  said  to  my  campmate,  "I  wouldn't 
have  shot  that  bear  for  $100.  It  would  have  been 
as  bad  as  shooting  a  child." 

George  looked  at  the  marks,  too,  and  laughed. 
"Gosh  all  hemlocks !"  he  cried.  "He  squatted  thar' 
an'  kivered  up  his  legs  with  the  pesky  sand  jist  like 
a  child  do,  an'  made  sand  pies,  too,  same  as  I 
uster  do  onct;  an'  see  wha'  he's  tobogganed  down 
the  mud  into  the  slough  an'  made  a  regular  'slip- 
pery' !  jis  like  I  uster  on  the  banks  of  the  Big 
Muddy  when  I  war  a  cub  of  a  boy." 

"Say,  tha'  cub  must  have  a  consarned,  low-down- 
opinion  of  us  two.  Here  he  wuz  taking  a  day 
off  on  the  lake  shore,  playing  hookey,  most  likely, 
from  b'ar  school,  an'  having  a  bully  good  time, 


BEARS  I  HAVE  MET  275 

when  along  comes  two  onery  cusses  and  pumps 
lead  at  him.  Tears  all  wrong,  this  sort  of  thing 
we  call  sport." 

"But,  say,"  said  George,  patting  me  on  the 
back,  "that  was  a  James  Dandy  shot  of  yours, 
from  a  bobbing  canoe  seven  hundred  yards  away." 


CHAPTER  XXL 


A  BEAR  I  NEVER  MET  AND  A  BEAR  I  NEVER 
WANT  TO  MEET 

UNCLE  JEFF'S  WONDERFUL  BEAR  STORY— A  CURE  FOR  FRECKLES 
UNCLE  JEFF  WAS  KWASS — THE  FURTHER  HE  DUG  THE 
MADDER  HE  GOT — GRIZZLIES  DON'T  TAKE  BACK  TALK — 
HYAS  KWASS — OLD  BALD  FACE  WANTED — HE  WAS  A  DEAD 
BEAR — A  TRUE  STORY  OF  A  CINCINNATI  BEAR — MARKET 
DAY — A  NEGRO  ON  A  SAFETY  VALVE — A  LONG  LANK  BUCK- 
SKIN CLAD  FIGURE — NO  BENT  OR  RUSTY  PINS  WERE  AC- 
CEPTED— HE  WOULD  ROLL  HIMSELF  IN  A  BALL  AND  SLEEP 
OFF  HIS  INDISPOSITION — THE  BEAR  WOULD  GO  TO  THE 
FRONT  PARLOR  WINDOWS — THE  BEAR  AND  THE  MILK- 
MAN'S  BELL — CUFFEY  WAS  DECEIVED  BY  A  CAT — BLOOD 
TRICKLED  FROM  CUFFEY's  LACERATED  MOUTH — A  PUBLIC 
MENACE — DEATH  OF  CUFFEY 

"I'm.  the  gol  durndest  coward  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains!"  exclaimed  old  Uncle  Jeff,  scout, 
trapper,  and  hero  of  many  thrilling  adventures, 
and  he  glared  at  the  circle  of  faces  illuminated  by 
the  camp  fire  to  see  who  would  dare  to  contradict 
his  assertion. 

"Wull,  ye  know,"  he  continued,  "afore  I  met 
thet  Asulkan  grizzly  I  uster  be  as  spotted  as  the 
belly  of  a  lynx.  I  was  thet  freckled,  one  would 
think  my  mother  was  a  guinea  hen,  but  old  bald- 
face  threw  such  a  scare  into  me  that 

276 


BEARS  I  HAVE  NEVER  MET 


277 


I  WAS  KWASS 

(frightened),  and  I  turned  so  white  that  all  the 
freckles  faded  out,  and  I  hain't  had  one  since,  no 
sir-ree,  not  a  polka  dot  mHHHHHmmmmmummm 
left  of  'em!" 

Everybody  from  the 
Kootenay  lakes  to  Sel- 
ish,  and  from  Moose- 
jaw  to  the  Eraser  Can- 
yon, knows  that  a  more 
courageous  man  never 
wore  buckskin,  baited  a 
trap  or  chewed  tobacco 
than  old  Uncle  Jeff;  he 
is  as  absolutely  fearless 
as  it  is  possible  for  a 
man  to  be  and  still  re- 
tain enough  discretion 
for  self-preservation. 

So  when  he  filled  his 
little  black  pipe  with  a  mixture  of  tobacco  and  the 
inner  bark  of  "red  willow"  (dogwood),  we  fixed 
ourselves  in  comfortable  positions  to  listen  to  the 
story  we  knew  was  coming. 

Uncle  Jeff  can  spin  a  good  yarn;  but  he  is  on 
some  occasions 


A  TERRIBLE  NATURE  FAKIR; 

and  for  the  sake  of  making  sport  of  the  ignorance 
of  the  average  tenderfoot  on  topics  of  natural  his- 


278 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


SOME  OF  THE  BEARS  I  HAVE  NEVER  MET 

tory,  the  old  trapper  will  sometimes  attribute 
traits  and  physical  characteristics  to  animals  alto- 
gether foreign  to  the  creatures  in  question. 

"Tha'  war  bear  sign  pleanty  around  my  claim 
up  in  the  Selkirk  Mountains.  I  hed  a  right  smart 
of  a  hole  dug  in  the  rock,  an  found  pleanty  of 
color,  but  it  was  all  rock  quartz;  I  hed  no  ore 
crusher  in  my  pack,  fer  I  carried  all  my  traps  on 
my  back,  so  ye  can  judge  quartz  gold  warn't  much 
use. 

THE  FURTHER  I  DUG  THE  MADDER  I  GOT. 

uMy  pan  warn't  no  use  at  all.  I  picked  up  a 
piece  of  quartz  with  veins  of  the  yellow  stuff  in 


BEARS  I  HAVE  NEVER  MET  279 

it,  which  looked  mighty  purty,  but  'twould  take  a 
mule  train  to  carry  enough  for  a  grub  stake. 

"I  was  just  looking  around  to  see  at  what  I 
cud  throw  the  tarnel  thing,  when  I  seed  the  big- 
gest grizzly  I  ever  sot  eyes  on,  walking  along  to- 
ward my  shack.  Grub  was  getting  low  and  I 
knowed  if  old  Ephraim  once  smelled  my  last  strip 
of  bacon  he  wud  tear  down  the  shack  to  get  it. 
So  I  up  and  let  drive  at  him  with  a  piece  of  quartz. 

"Gosh-all-Sassafras !  I  pasted  old  baldface  in 
the  side  so  hard  that  it  sounded  like  a  thump  on  an 
Injun  tomtom. 

"Now,  ye  know 

GRIZZLIES  DON'T  TAKE  NO  BACK  TALK  FROM 
NOBODY. 

"Wuz  Baldy  mad?      Well,    I-want-ter-know— 
Geewhilikans !  he  came  at  me  like  a  bale  of  hay 
sliding  down  the  Illecilleweat  glacier!     Skeered? 
Well,  you  can  bet  your    Hi-yu-muck-a-muck    that 
that  is  just  what  was  the  matter. 

I  WAS  HYAS  KWASS 

(terribly  frightened)  for  certain,  an'  I  did  some 
running  that  wud  hev  made  a  prong-horn  stare, 
an'  I  jumped  and  clum  them  rocks  like  a  Rocky 
Mountain  goat. 

"I  was  making  for  the  timber  belt.  The  devil's 
clubs  scratched  my  hands  an'  tore  my  clothes  an' 
the  goblin's  thistles  turned  their  wry  necks  to  see 


28o  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

me  go  by;  but  'taint  no  use  whatever  to  race  with 
a  baldface.  They  look  clumsy,  but  it's  all  in  their 
looks.  They  air  race  horses  in  fur  overcoats,  that's 
what  grizzlies  be! 

"So  I  grabbed  a  branch  of  a  lodge-pole-pine 
and  swung  myself  up  like  a  squirrel  an'  I  clum  to 
the  slim  end.  But,  shoo ! 

OLD  BALDFACE  NEVER  WAITED 

for  a  minute.  He  just  cum  after  me  like  a  miner 
up  a  ladder  when  there  is  a  cave-in  behind  him." 

"What,  a  grizzly  climb  a  tree?"  cried  a  young 
man  in  a  stylish  hunting  suit.  Uncle  Jeff  gave  one 
look  from  under  his  shaggy  brows  and  the  young 
man  wilted,  shriveled  up  and  was  quiet. 

"That  air  tree  was  almighty  slim  an'  tapering 
up  whar  I  wuz,  an'  it  bent  in  a  way  I  did  not  like, 
but  that  pesky  b'ar  just  kept  on  cumen,  and  clum 
almost  up  to  me,  when  I  heard  the  wood  a 
cracken. 

"* You  blathering  old  idj it!  Ye  baldf aced  fool ! 
Stop,  or  we'll  both  be  killed!'  I  yelled. 

"BUT  EPHRAIM  WUZ  MAD, 

an'  he  didn't  pay  no  attention  to  my  remarks;  so 
I  clum  to  the  tip-top  an'  drug  up  my  legs  as  close 
to  my  body  as  I  cud  hold  'em,  while  I  reached  for 
the  milky  way,  an'  that's  when  I  began  to  lose  my 
freckles. 

"Old  baldy  came  right  on,  a-growling  an'  cuss- 
ing to  hisself,  an'  all  the  time  the  pine  a-bending 


BEARS  I  HAVE  NEVER  MET  281 

an'  cracking.  I  held  my  breath  a  minute  till  the 
crash  came,  then  you  bet  I  yelled. 

"Say,  that  was  a  mighty  quar  accident!  The 
old  b'ar  went  down  a  clawing  on  to  the  big  sliv- 
ered end  an'  his  weight  made  the  top  piece  of 
the  pine  turn  like  a  big  arrow  with  me  for  the 
feathers ! 

"It  went  clean  through  the  b'ar,  pinning  him 
to  the  ground. 

"HE  WAS  A  DEAD  B'AR  SHUR'NUFF, 

an'  I  was  a  badly  shuk  up  prospector;  but  it  was 
a  funny  sight  for  the  bluejays  and  magpies  to  see 
me  on  top  of  a  pole  yelling  bloody  murder  and  the 
other  end  of  the  pole  planted  in  the  b'ar. 

"If  you  don't  believe  me,  you  go  up  thar  an' 
on  the  trail  from  Mount  Bonny  to  Asulkan  glacier 
yu'll  see  a  lodge-pole-pine  a-growing  from  the  mid- 
dle of  a  pile  of  b'ar  bones;  wull,  that's  the  top  of 
the  tree  what  took  root  whar  it  wur  planted  by  the 
fall." 

A  TRUE  STORY  OF  A  CINCINNATI  BEAR. 

Mandy  Jane's  hair  was  the  rich,  yellowish  red  of 
the  old  crockery  pickle  jars  on  the  pantry  shelf, 
and  her  oval  countenance  was  so  freckled  that  it 
seemed  as  if  a  cow  had  sneezed  bran  in  her  face. 
Mandy  Jane's  lips  were  ruby  red,  her  teeth  pearly 
and  regular,  her  eyes  deep  turquoise  blue  and  her 
lithe,  girlish  figure  was  as  plump  as  a  partridge. 


282  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

No  one  knew  her  antecedents. or  whence  the  girl 
came.  They  only  knew  that  she  was  a  "bound 
girl"  and  worked  for  the  family  of  a  distinguished 
young  artist,  a  man  whose  sugar-loafed,  broad- 
brimmed  cavalier  hat,  long,  curly  hair,  ruffled  shirt 
front  and  wide  flowing  collars  were  as  well  known 
as  his  pictures  and  his  oft  quoted  bon  mots. 

IT  WAS  CUSTOMARY  ON  MARKET  DAYS 

for  the  farmers  of  the  surrounding  country  to  as- 
semble in  town  before  the  break  of  day,  and  back 
their  picturesque  canvas-covered  market  wagons 
against  the  curb-stones  of  the  brick  sidewalk  until 
the  closely  packed  line  of  vehicles  extended  many 
squares. 

With  the  first  rays  of  the  morning  sun  Mandy 
Jane  usually  appeared,  walking  demurely  behind 
her  mistress  and  toting  a  big  willow  basket  through 
the  crowds  of  marketers  who  thronged  the 
sidewalks.  Mandy  spread  despair  in  her  wake, 
and  mid  heaps  of  country  produce  she  left  many  an 
aching  heart.  But  Mandy  Jane  saved  all  her 
caresses  for 

A  BIG  LOUT  OF  A  LOW  COMEDIAN, 

a  creature  with  small  eyes,  uncouth  manners,  awk- 
ward gait  and  dishonest  ways.  He  was,  besides 
all  this,  as  black  as  your  hat ! 

Mandy  Jane's  affections,  in  short,  were  centered 
on  a  big",  fat  black  bear,  and  this  is  the  story: 


BEARS  I  HAVE  NEVER  MET  283 

The  young  artist  had  been  down  the  river  on 
a  commission  to  paint  the  portrait  of  Gen.  Zachary 
Taylor,  and  while  the  steamer  raced  up  the  stream 
with 

A  NEGRO  ON  THE  SAFETY  VALVE 

and  the  spiteful  blue  steam  hissing  menacingly  at 
every  rivet  in  the  boilers,  the  reckless  passengers 
sat  unconcernedly  at  cards  in  the  saloon  or  around 
the  decks,  and  laughed  merrily  when  the  rival 
packet  was  left  around  the  bend. 

When  a  necessary  stop  was  made  at  a  lonely 
spot  to  take  on  wood  and 

A  "BLACKLEG"  WAS  PUT-A-SHORE 

for  dealing  a  crooked  hand  in  the  cabin,  the  care- 
less passengers  laughed  at  the  plight  of  the  sharper. 
It  was  on  one  of  these  occasions  that  a  long, 
lank,  buck-skin  clad  figure  emerged  from  a  cane- 
brake  and  added  further  amusement  to  the  gen- 
tlemen and  ladies  on  deck  by  offering  for  sale  a 
wee  little  bear  cub,  which  was  promptly  purchased 
by  the  artist. 

WHEN  THE  BEAR  BEGAN  TO  GROW 

he  waxed  strong  and  lusty  and  developed  a  taste 
for  rollicking  fun  which  won  his  way  to  all  the 
boys'  hearts. 

"Cuffey,"  the  bear,  and  the  artist's  sons  were  at 
this  period  inseparable.  If  one  of  the  children  fell 
down  stairs,  Cuffey  was  with  him;  if  there  was  a 


284  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

raid  on  the  cookey  barrel  Cuffey  led  the  raid;  he 
played  tag  and  hide-and-seek  as  well  as  any  boy, 
and  was  also  a  source  of  revenue  to  the  lads. 

FIVE  PINS  WAS  THE   PRICE   CHARGED 

to  see  the  "real  live  bear  from  the  Red  River," 
and  no  bent  or  rusty  pins  were  accepted  by  the 
trust  owning  the  animal.  Even  such  pins  as  were 
ingeniously  straightened  out  by  small  feet  revolv- 
ing them  back  and -forward  on  the  red  brick  side- 
walk were  scornfully  rejected,  and  yet  every  pin- 
cushion in  the  house  soon  glistened  with  its  load  of 
wealth. 

IF  THE  BEAR  WAS  TIRED  FROM  PLAY 

or  had  indigestion  from  swallowing  marbles  and 
pieces  of  wooden  tops,  he  always  went  to  Mandy 
Jane  for  comfort  and  kind  words,  after  which  he 
would  roll  himself  into  a  ball  and  sleep  off  his  in- 
disposition in  the  kitchen  wood-box. 

As  Cuffey  became  older  he  increased  in  size  and 
strength  and  the  children  learned  to  fear  the  rough 
play  of  their  four-footed  friend.  In  time  the  bear 
grew  to  be  so  large  that,  for  safety, 

HE  WAS  CHAINED  TO  THE  OLD  PEACH  TREE 

in  the  yard.  He  would  break  loose  occasionally 
and  create  considerable  excitement  by  visiting  the 
house. 

His  reception  there  was  not  now  as  cordial  as 
it  had  been  when  he  was  a  small  cub.  When  the 


BEARS  I  HAVE  NEVER  MET 


285 


Mandy  Jane  would  not  hesitate  to  leave  her  bread  dough.    ' 

•••••••••••••••••^••••••••^^^•B 

bedroom  doors  were  slammed  in  his  face  the  bear 
would  go  to  the  front  parlor  and  seating  himself 
by  the  window  in  the  black  horsehair  covered 
rocker,  proceed  to  rock  violently  back  and  forth, 
to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  people  on  the 
street. 

On  such  occasions  the  sportsman  uncle  and  the 
artist  father  were  wont 

TO  PUT  BOOT  LEGS  ON  THEIR  ARMS 

before  proceeding  to  drag  the  bear  out  of  doors 


286  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

by  his  ears  and  chain  him,  but  Mandy  Jane  would 
not  hesitate  to  leave  her  bread  dough  in  the 
kitchen,  and  with  her  sleeves  still  rolled  up  above 
her  elbows,  proceed  to  capture  him. 

IT  WAS  A  WINSOME  SIGHT 

to  see  the  girl,  with  her  dimpled  white  arms 
thrown  fearlessly  around  the  big  brute's  neck, 
talking  affectionately  to  the  bear  as  he  walked  with- 
out protest  back  to  the  tiresome  peach  tree  and  his 
shackles. 

When  chained,  he  would  wearily  trot  half  way 
around  the  tree, 

TURN   A    SOMERSAULT 

and  trot  back  again,  for  hours  at  a  time. 

The  farmers'  sons,  the  milkman  and  the  grocery 
boy  envied  the  bear,  and  all  of  them  would  have 
consented  gladly  to  be  chained  to  any  old  tree,  if 
Mandy  would  only  have  led  them  as  she  did  Cuffey. 

Each  morning  the  harsh  clang  of  the  milkman's 
bell  caused  the  bear  to  gnash  his  teeth  with  anger, 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  if  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  breaking  loose  at  an  opportune  time,  he 
would  have 

TORN  THE  MILKMAN  TO  SHREDS. 

Cuffey  had  no  great  affection  for  the  red-cheeked 
grocery  clerk,  and  even  when  the  bear  was  safely 
chained  the  grocery  boy  dared  not  open  the  gate, 


BEARS  I  HAVE  NEVER  MET  287 

although  the  lad  often  lingered  outside  of  the  pal- 
ings in  hopes  of  a  chance  smile  or  word  from 
Mandy  Jane. 

THE  BRAVE  FARMERS' 

sons  did  not  even  venture  to  lounge  around  outside 
of  the  lot,  but  with  a  frightened  look  at  the  peach 
tree  and  a  wistful  one  at  the  vine-clad  kitchen  door, 
they  hurried  by,  their  cowhide  boots  resounding 
on  the  brick  sidewalk. 

Cuffey  had  been  deceived  once  by  a  cat  and  he 
never  forgot  it.  He  had  been  idly  swinging  one 
arm  back  and  forth  wondering  why  the  boys  had 
ceased  to  play  with  him,  when  a  beautiful  big  tom- 
cat came  cautiously  up  to  examine  the  food  trough. 
The  bear  delightedly  caught  the  cat  with  his  paws 
and  began  to  bounce  Tom  up  and  down  as  he  had 
seen  people  dandle  babies. 

THE  LONG  UNDER  LIP  OF  THE  BEAR 

projected  from  his  mouth,  in  an  idiotic  fashion 
whenever  he  was  amused,  and  the  cat  amused  him ; 
but  the  cat  was  frantic  with  fear  and  reaching  for 
anything  in  sight,  caught  the  bear's  tender  lip  with 
his  hooked  claws. 

Blood  trickled  from  Cuffey's  lacerated  mouth 
and  gleamed  in  his  little  eyes,  and  he  held  the  hap- 
less cat  to  the  ground  with  his  paws  and  deliber- 
ately turned  a  somersault  on  the  spitting  and  growl- 
ing animal. 


288  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Cuffey  was  never  scratched  again,  although 
scores  of  cats  had  their  lives  pressed  from  their 
bodies  by  the  somersaults  of  the  bear.  After  that, 
whenever, 

ANOTHER  CAT  WAS  ADDED  TO  THE  LIST  OF 
VICTIMS, 

Cuffey  expressed  delight  by  doing  all  kinds  of 
stunts  around  the  peach  tree,  until  the  slack  of  his 
chain  was  wound  in,  and  then  reversing  his  acro- 
batic feats,  he  would  again  unwind  the  chain. 

But  neighbors  now  averred  that  the  bear  was  a 
public  menace,  and  they  were  in  fear  for  the  lives 
of  themselves  and  their  children,  and  so  it  was 
decided  by  the  artist  to  give  Cuffey  away. 

One  day  two  rough  showmen  appeared  driving 
an  open  express  wagon.  The  men  hitched  their 
horse  and  went  into  the  yard  for  Cuffey. 

CUFFEY  DID  NOT  LIKE  THEIR  LOOKS 

and  went  for  the  men,  who  proved  themselves  to 
be  skilled  athletes  by  tKe  celerity  with  which  they 
vaulted  over  the  high  picket  fence. 

The  men  of  the  house  now  appeared  with  boot- 
legs on  their  arms,  and  attempted  to  lead  the  bear 
by  the  chain,  but  Cuffey,  thinking  it  fine  fun, 
put  his  toes  in  the  ground  and  pulled  the  men  to 
their  knees. 

Mandy  Jane  had  shut  herself  in  the  kitchen  and 
pulled  down  the  blinds  and  for  a  time  she  could 
not  be  persuaded  even  to  look  out  of  the  door  at 


BEARS  I  HAVE  NEVER  MET  289 

the  unfortunate  Cuffey.  However,  she  was  coaxed 
at  last  into  exerting  her  influence  with  her  four- 
footed  admirer. 

THE  EFFECT  WAS  WONDERFUL. 

The  bear  ceased  to  romp,  play,  or  show  fight. 
He  waddled  up  to  Mandy,  reared  upon  his  hind 
legs  and  said:  "Oue- — oue — e — e!"  Then  he 
dropped  to  all  fours  and  put  his  head  against  the 
girl  for  a  moment  and  when  she  said  something 
softly  to  the  beast,  he  caught  her  dress  playfully 
in  its  mouth  and  lifted  her  skirts  until  they  dis- 
played the  trimmest  pair  of  ankles  in  the  city. 

But  Mandy  Jane  seemed  unconscious  of  that 
fact  and  slowly  led  her  pet  to  the  wagon.  The 
tears  glistened  on  her  eyelashes  as  she  climbed 
into  it, 

FOLLOWED  BY  CUFFEY. 

The  showmen  hastily  fastened  the  bear's  chain 
to  the  seat  and  as  Mandy  lightly  jumped  to  the 
ground  they  cracked  the  whip,  and  the  horse 
started  at  a  gallop  up  the  street. 

The  novel  experience  of  being  in  a  rapidly  mov- 
ing wagon  so  astonished  Cuffey  that  he  never 
moved  until  he  saw  that  Mandy  was  sobbing  bit- 
terly. Then  he  sprang  from  the  vehicle.  Al- 
though the  chain  did  not  break,  it  did  pull  the  seat 
from  its  fastening  and  tumbled  the  showmen  over 
in  their  wagon  and  poor  Cuffey  was  free  forever. 

There  was  a  piercing  shriek  as  Mandy  Jane  fell 
fainting,  not  on  the  sidewalk,  but  into  the  stalwart 


sons,  the  milkman  and  the  groceryman,  all  envied  the  bear. 


THE  FARMERS'  SONS,  THE  MILKMAN  AND  THE  GROCERY. 
MAN,  ALL  ENVIED  THE  BEAR 


BEARS  I  HAVE  NEVER  MET  291 

arms  of  the  grocery  boy.  The  limp  form  of  the 
broken-necked  bear  was  hoisted  into  the  wagon 
and  the  equally  limp  form  of  the  broken-hearted 
"bound"  girl  was  tenderly  carried  into  the  house. 

THE  SHOWMEN  SWORE  ROUNDLY 

when  they  found  that  the  bear  was  dead,  and  the 
milkman,  market  men  and  the  neighboring  cats 
openly  rejoiced  over  the  demise  of  Cuffey;  but  the 
red-cheeked  grocery  lad's  eyes  suffused  with  sin- 
cere tears  when  he  was  confronted  with  the  deep 
grief  of  Mandy,  and  when  he  was  rewarded  by  a 
grateful,  though  tearful  smile,  the  lad  solemnly 
declared  that  Cuffey  was  the  best  bear  that  ever 
lived.  And  so  he  was — to  Mandy  Jane! 


CHAPTER  XXII 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES 

MONAD  AND  THE  WHISTLE  BALL — HOW  MONAD  FOOLED  HIS 
MASTER — HE  COULD  ALWAYS  FIND  YOUR  POCKETKNIFE — HE 
WAS  A  MONOMANIAC  ON  BALL  PLAYING — SPENT  HIS  TIME 
KNOCKING  ASHES  FROM  CIGARS — BLUFFING  DOGS  AND  THEIR 
SLACK  CHAINS — THREE  GREAT  DANES  ATTACK  THE  AUTHOR 
— A  GREAT  DANE  FRIGHTENED  AT  ITS  OWN  RELEASE — WHAT 

DO  YOU  MEAN  ? — CHARGE,  SIR? — STAND  YOUR  GROUND  AND 
EXPLAIN  YOUR  POSITION — A  FAMOUS  POINTER — IT  WAS 
ONLY  A  POOR  LITTLE  YELLOW  DOG — FAMOUS  MR.  SPIN — 
HIS  MASTER'S  VOICE — THE  IDENTITY  OF  MR.  SPIN — WILD 
DOGS — AN  ADVENTURE  WITH  WILD  DOGS— DOGS  IN  A 
BESIEGED  CITY — FEROCIOUS  BEASTS — WILD  DOGS  ATTACK 
HORSES  ATTACHED  TO  BUGGIES. 

Monad,  my  little  Pomeranian  spaniel,  was  fond 
of  playing  with  a  rubber  ball  containing  a  whistle, 
the  sound  of  which  afforded  him  a  great  delight. 
He  would  rend  other  playthings  to  fragments,  but 
he  used  the  utmost  care  with  his  whistle  ball,  exert- 
ing only  sufficient  pressure  to  make  a  squeaking 
noise. 

Impelled  by  a  spirit  of  mischief,  I  once  caused 
the  ball  to  be  filled  with  cigar  smoke.  Monad 
was  disgusted  with  the  mean  trick,  and  showed 
his  lack  of  confidence  in  me  by  never  again  taking 
the  ball  in  his  mouth  without  first  striking  it  with 
his  paws  to  see  if  any  offensive  vapor  had  been  sur- 
reptitiously inserted  into  his  favorite  plaything. 

292 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES  293 

THE  DOG  THAT  MADE  BELIEVE. 

Monad  hated  flies,  and  would  hunt  them 
all  over  the  house.  Thinking  to  have  some 
sport  with  him  I  made  a  noise  with  my  lips 
imitating  the  buzzing  of  a  fly,  and  then  made  be- 
lieve to  catch  the  insect.  The  dog,  lifting  his  lips, 
went  through  all  the  motions  of  biting  an 
imaginary  fly  to  death.  I  thought  that  I  had 
fooled  him,  but  the  joke  was  on  me,  for,  after  re- 
peated trials,  I  discovered  that  Monad  had  en- 
tered into  the  spirit  of  the  game  and  was  also 
"making  believe." 

This,  not  only  showed  intelligence,  but  also  a 
highly  developed  sense  of  humor,  and  everybody 
knows  that  while  humor  may  be  spontaneous  it  is 
never  automatic. 

JACK,  THE  JACK-KNIFE  DOG. 

Sauntering  down  to  the  post-office  at  Hancock, 
Michigan,  I  was  surprised  to  see  a  mongrel  dog 
leave  the  crowd  that  had  collected  for  the  mail, 
and  make  straight  for  me.  Upon  coming  within 
reach,  it  behaved  in  the  most  peculiar  manner, 
barking  and  alternately  jumping  at  my  trousers 
pockets  and  gazing  intently  at  a  grass-covered  ter- 
race across  the  street.  At  length  a  tall,  lank  miner 
from  Red  Jacket  said:  "Here's  wot  it  wants  yer 
ter  do,  stranger."  He  then  drew  a  cla.sp  knife  from 
his  pockets  and  threw  it  across  the  street  into  the 
long  grass.  With  a  yelp  of  delight,  the  dog  darted 


294  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

across  the  street  and  soon  returned  with  the  knife 
in  its  mouth.  I  then  threw  my  small  penknife, 
with  the  same  results. 

The  dog  went  from  one  to  another  of  the  crowd 
begging  them  to  give  him  the  privilege  of  retriev- 
ing their  pocket  knives;  he  found  the  knives  by 
beating  a  zig-zag  course  until  his  wonderful  nose 
scented  the  object  sought,  and  he  never  failed  to 
find  the  little  bit  of  hardware. 

Jack  knew  the  taste  and  smell  of  every  piece  of 
pocket  cutlery  in  Hancock,  but  he  would  retrieve 
nothing  else. 

The  grass  in  the  lot  was  above  the  dog's  back 
and  knee-deep  to  a  man,  and  each  time  a  knife  was 
thrown,  the  thrower,  by  false  moves  and 
feints,  did  all  in  his  power  to  mislead  the  dog; 
when  this  is  taken  into  consideration,  one  may 
realize  what  a  wonderful  nose  the  little  mongrel 
possessed. 

A  LONE  BALL  GAME. 

In  Wisconsin  a  little  fox  terrier  came  trotting 
up  to  me  with  a  ball  in  its  mouth  and  by  sundry 
signs  tried  to  induce  me  to  throw  the  ball,  but  I 
had  no  time  to  play.  Seeing  this  the  dog  took  the 
ball  to  the  top  of  the  slanting  board  sidewalk,  al- 
lowed gravitation  to  roll  it  down  to  the  gutter,  and 
then  ran  after  it  in  great  glee. 

It  was  no  accident,  for  I  saw  him  do  the  same 
thing  half  a  dozen  times  before  I  left  him  still 
engaged  in  his  uone  ole  cat"  game  of  ball. 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES  295 

THE  SMOKER'S  COMPANION. 

A  dog  sitting  beside  me  in  a  frontier  hotel  in- 
sisted upon  knocking  the  ash  from  my  cigar.  By 
continued  experiments  I  discovered  that  the  little 
creature  had  been  trained  to  do  this  unique  trick, 
and  that  it  took  great  delight  in  the  performance. 

DOG  ACTORS. 

Many  chained  dogs  apparently  make  frantic  ef- 
forts to  break  loose  to  attack  you.  They  rattle 
their  chains,  spring  up  and  come  down  on  their  feet, 
coughing  as  if  their  fierce  struggling  had  caused 
their  collars  to  almost  strangle  them.  But  it  is  all 
a  piece  of  clever  acting — nothing  but  a  big  bluft. 
Close  scrutiny  will  show  you  that  the  strain  put 
on  the  chains  would  not  break  a  piece  of  string. 
The  chains  are  never  even  drawn  taut. 

I  once  entered  a  yard  and  passed  a  sleeping 
monster  Dane  without  seeing  the  brute.  The  dog 
suddenly  awoke  and  seeing  a  stranger  in  the  yard, 
with  a  savage  growl  sprang  at  me.  To  my  hor- 
ror, the  chain  snapped  like  a  thread  and  the  dog 
was  free. 

But  the  brute  did  not  expect  this  result  and  was 
so  terrified  at  its  unusual  position  that  after  an 
amazed  look  at  the  broken  chain,  it  gave  a  startled 
yelp,  clapped  its  tail  between  its  powerful  legs, 
cleared  a  high  board  fence  with  a  single  bound  and 
vanished  down  the  street. 


296  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

THE   EFFECT  OF   HABIT. 

A  general  knowledge  of  dogs  will  often  save 
one  from  serious  mishaps.  In  Wheeling,  West 
Virginia,  a  large  Irish  setter  sprang  unexpectedly 
at  my  throat  and  caught  its  teeth  in  my  collar  and 
necktie. 

Of  course  I  was  frightened,  but  I  had  the  pres- 
ence of  mind  not  to  let  the  dog  know  it.  I  stood 
for  a  moment  perfectly  quiet,  looking  down  into 
the  beast's  savage  face.  I  saw  what  sort  of  a  dog 
had  me,  and,  as  soon  as  I  could  trust  my  voice, 
coolly  said: 

"Down,  sir!  Charge!  What  do  you  mean? 
Charge!" 

The  dog  hesitated  and  growled,  but  its  habit  of 
obedience  was  too  strong.  Down  it  came  to  a 
"charge"  on  the  ground  at  my  feet  much  to  the 
amazement  of  the  owner,  who  was  hastening  to 
my  rescue. 

The  man  had  not  heard  what  I  said  to  the  dog, 
and  could  only  gasp  out  the  words:  "What  did 
you  do  to  him?  He's  a  very  dangerous  dog — a 
very  dangerous  dog!" 

In  St.  Louis  I  was 

ATTACKED  BY  THREE   GREAT  DANES. 

The  brutes  rushed  out  unexpectedly  upon  me  leav- 
ing no  chance  for  a  retreat.  As  they  came  bound- 
ing towards  me  with  their  great  mouths  open,  I 
knew  that  I  was  in  a  very  serious  position.  To 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES  297 

run  under  such  circumstances  would  mean  to  be 
overtaken  and  possibly  torn  to  pieces.  To  stand 
and  fight  such  brutes  would  mean  serious  injury 
on  my  part,  with  all  the  chances  of  victory  on  the 
side  of  the  dogs.  If  they  struck  me  and  I  fell 
there  would  be  little  chance  even  of  my  life.  In 
fact  it  looked  as  if  this  account  was  never  to  be 
written,  but  I  spread  my  legs  wide  apart,  composed 
myself  as  well  as  I  could,  resolving  neither  to 
fight  nor  run  away,  but  to  hold  my  ground  and  at 
the  same  time  to  talk  sharply  and  in  a  command- 
ing voice  to  the  savage  beasts.  Several  times  the 
dogs  rushed  at  me,  evidently  expecting  me  to  flee 
or  strike  at  them.  At  one  time  two  of  the  big 
animals  had  their  fore  feet  upon  my  shoulders, 
but  my  stubborn  attitude  of  command  puzzled  and 
embarrassed  them,  and  prevented  them  from  bit- 
ing me;  and  by  the  time  that  help  came  the  dogs 
had  retired  some  distance,  where  they  stood  growl- 
ing and  talking  the  incident  over  among  themselves 
in  dog  language. 

DON'T  EVER  RUN  AWAY  FROM  A  DOG 

unless  you  are  absolutely  certain  that  you  can  get 
out  of  its  reach.  Remember  that  even  the  most 
cowardly  cur  will  attack  a  fleeing  man.  While  it 
may  be  safe  to  kick  a  small  dog  which  is  barking 
and  snapping  around  your  heels,  don't  ever  at- 
tempt to  fight  a  big  and  savage  dog,  for  the  brute 
may  happen  to  be  a  plucky  one,  in  which  case  you 


298  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

are  certain  to  come  out  of  the  encounter  with 
bleeding  wounds  and  torn  clothes.  Whenever  es- 
cape seems  doubtful 

STAND  YOUR  GROUND 

and  talk  to  the  attacking  animal.  Use  a  severe 
tone  of  voice,  telling  him  he  is  making  a  fool  of 
himself,  that  he  has  made  a  mistake;  tell  him  to 
lie  down,  "Charge,  sir!"  or  anything  else  that  hap- 
pens to  occur  to  you,  but  do  not  scream  or  yell  for 
help.  Watch  dogs  may  be  animal  automatons, 
but  they  are  not  fools,  and  they  can  detect  the 
slightest  signs  of  fear,  whether  it  is  expressed  by 
voice  or  manner,  and  when  a  person  shows  fear 
the  dogs  become  very  aggressive.  But 

DO    NOT    EXPERIMENT 

just  for  the  purpose  of  testing  these  directions, 
for  although  I  have  tried  them  over  and  over 
agairi  successfully,  there  is  always  a  possibility  of 
unforeseen  accidents  under  such  circumstances,  and 
a  strange 

DOG'S  BITE  IS  ALWAYS  SERIOUS. 

But  whenever  you  are  caught  unawares  by  a  self- 
important  and  watchful  dog,  assume  an  air  of  con- 
fident command. 

As  a  traveling  surveyor  and  map  maker  for  five 
years  my  work  took  me  into  the  back  yards  of 
private  residences,  factories  and  breweries  all  over 
our  country,  and  not  a  day  passed  without 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES 


299 


AN   ENCOUNTER   WITH   A   DOG, 
and  yet  there  is  not  the  mark  of  a  dog's  tooth  on 
my  body,  and  I  never  had    them    even    tear    my 


A   FEW  OF  THE  DOGS 


300  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

clothes;  twice  only  have  I  used  force  and  in  self- 
defense  killed  two  dogs,  but  both  of  these  were 
fierce  bull  terriers,  bred  for  dog  fighting,  and  in 
both  cases  there  was  no  opportunity  to  engage  the 
savage  creatures'  attention.  One  dog  I  killed  with 
a  back  thrust  of  the  painted  steel-shod  flag-pole 
used  by  surveyors,  and  the  other  with  a  large 
stone,  the  only  weapon  handy  at  the  moment. 

A  FAMOUS  POINTER. 

But  all  dogs  are  not  savage.  Old  Wallace  was 
a  gentleman  even  if  he  was  also  a  pointer  dog,  and 
he  had  as  wide  a  reputation  for  vigilance  as  his 
master's  silver-mounted,  muzzle-loading  shotgun 
had  for  accuracy. 

When  Wallace  made  a  point  on  a  covey  of  quail 
he  "froze"  as  soon  as  his  nose  caught  the  scent. 
But  if,  after  a  reasonable  time,  no  one  appeared, 
Wallace  would  look  cautiously  around  to  see  why 
the  gunner  failed  to  follow  up  the  scent. 

If  the  hunter  was  inattentive,  the  wise  old  dog 
would  leave  his  point,  tiptoe  to  the  man  and  gain 
his  attention  by  a  suppressed  "hough!"  Then  he 
would  tiptoe  back,  find  the  game,  and  again  re- 
solve himself  into  a  rigid  statue  of  a  dog. 

Wallace,  the  silver-mounted  gun  known  as 
"Old  Baldface,"  and  their  owner,  were  known 
from  New  Orleans  to  Lake  Erie.  The  dog  and 
hunter  have  joined  the  great  majority,  but  the  old- 
fashioned  gun  hangs  in  my  library. 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES  301 


THE  TOPER'S  DOG. 


The  train  stood  in  front  of  the  row  of  false- 
fronted  frame  houses  which  sprawled  along  the 
narrow  unpaved  street  of  the  town.  To  add  to  the 
general  appearance  of  discomfort,  a  drizzling  rain 
was  falling. 

The  train  was  making  one  of  those  long,  silent, 
unexplained  stops  to  which  Southern  trains  are  ad- 
dicted. No  one  got  off  and  no  one  got  on  the  cars, 
which  were  apparently  only  resting  their  wheels. 

Suddenly  a  small  animal  appeared  on  the  scene, 
and  the  sight  of  it  was  eagerly  welcomed  by  the 
many  passengers.  Some  cried,  "It's  a  fox;"  others 
said  that  it  was  a  'coon,  and  yet  others  declared 
it  to  be  a  'possum,  but  these  wild  guesses  only 
showed  a  lamentable  ignorance  of  natural  history. 

It  was  only  a  poor  little  wet,  bedraggled  dog, 
evidently  in  search  of  something  and  thoroughly 
knowing  its  business. 

Almost  every  other  house  was  a  barroom,  and 
the  steps,  latches  or  knobs  of  the  doors  to  these 
places  received  the  dog's  most  careful  inspection. 
But  a  little  chapel  was  passed  without  notice,  and 
so  was  the  one-story  printing  office.  The  dog 
paused,  however,  at  the  drug  store  long  enough  to 
rear  up  on  its  short  hind  legs  and  sniff  the  door- 
knob in  a  casual  manner  before  it  went  on  its  way. 
It  gave  a  perfunctory  sniff  at  the  thumb-latch  of 
the  grocery  store,  critically  inspected  the  doorway 
to  the  post-office,  threw  up  its  nose  to  catch  the  scent 
of  the  upper  currents  of  air  as  it  passed  the  general 


302  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

merchandise  store,  but  did  not  deign  to  give  the 
Sons  of  Temperance  headquarters  a  passing  glance. 

The  interested  passengers  had  by  this  time 
thrown  up  the  sashes  of  the  Pullman  and  were 
shouting  suggestions  to  the  little  dog,  to  which  it 
paid  as  little  heed  as  it  did  to  the  Sons  of  Temper- 
ance. 

When  the  animal  reached  the  "Blind  Tiger" 
barroom  the  train  was  awakening  from  its  trance; 
squeaking  noises  issued  from  the  wheels  and  his- 
sings from  the  air  brakes.  The  dog's  tail  was 
drooping  between  its  legs  and  its  body  was  be- 
spattered with  rain,  but  the  moment  its  wet  nose 
touched  the  knob  of  this  saloon  door  a  wonderful 
change  took  place. 

The  creature  was  transfigured.  Its  tail  wagged 
energetically  and  the  animal  leaped  into  the  air, 
frisked  about  and  emitted  barks  of  delight.  It 
acted  as  if  it  was  greeting  the  real  presence  of  some 
person.  After  its  first  transports  of  joy  had  passed 
it  sought  shelter  from  the  rain  under  a  wooden 
bench. 

As  the  train  pulled  out  the  dog  could  be  seen 
comfortably  curled  up,  its  nose  resting  between  its 
front  paws,  its  intelligent  eyes  fastened  expectantly 
upon  the  closed  door,  and  its  tail  slowly  and  con- 
tentedly thumping  the  board-walk. 

THE    STORY    WITHOUT    WORDS    WAS    TOLD. 

The  faithful  yellow  dog  had  located  its  master, 
and  we  all  knew  that  the  man  was  not  a  member 
of  the  Sons  of  Temperance. 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES  303 

Not  long  since  an  old  friend  of  mine  by  the 
name  of  Spin  joined  the  Great  Majority — crossed 
the  Divide  where  all  the  pony  tracks  point  one 
way.  Like  many  other  celebrated  persons  my 
friend's  fame  only  came  after  he  was  dead  and 
buried.  Although  Spin's  portrait  is  today  pub- 
lished in  almost  every  magazine,  painted  in  oil, 
and  prized  by  a  wealthy  corporation,  exhibited  in 
show  windows  and  emblazoned  in  gigantic  size  on 
bill  boards,  poor  Spin's  bones  rest  in  an  unmarked 
grave  in  Pike  County,  Pennsylvania,  the  location 
of  which  is  known  to  only  a  few,  a  very  few  of 
his  old  friends. 

Even  his  greatest  admirers  do  not  know  the 
name  of  this  famous  person  and  only  two  or  three 
persons  know  that  he  is  dead. 

SUCH  is  FAME! 

yet  every  library  in  this  country  and  in  every 
other  country  possesses  dozens  of  portraits  of  my 
old  friend  Spin  and  his  bright,  intelligent  counte- 
nance is  as  familiar  to  the  readers  of  this  book  as 
that  of  George  Washington.  Wherever  printed 
papers  and  magazines  go  there  is  to  be  found  the 
portrait  of  the 

FAMOUS   MR.    SPIN. 

When  I  first  met  him,  the  hero  of  this  story  was 
in  the  prime  of  life,  but,  of  course,  I  only  remem- 


304  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

her  him  as  he  appeared  when  I  last  saw  the  old 
fellow — a  fat,  poddy  body,  gouty  legs  and  a 
wheezing  voice.  But  the  pictures  of  him  show 
the  great  Spin  in  the  prime  of  life,  with  a  hand- 
some face  and  well  proportioned  youthful  figure. 
As  I  have  already  intimated  you  all  know  the 
celebrity's  face,  but  you  cannot  recall  his  name. 

WHO  THEN  WAS  SPIN? 

It  was  away  back  in  1887  that  I  conceived  the 
idea  of  building  for  myself  a  log  house  on  a  deer 
run-way  in  the  wilds  of  Pennsylvania.  Shortly 
after  my  house  was  finished  a  very  charming  and 
interesting  lady  came  to  the  woods,  and  selecting 
a  piece  of  land  adjoining  mine  had  it  cleared,  and 
on  it  erected  a  large  house  which  she  called  "Lodge 
Bohemia."  After  her  came  her  husband  and  with 
him  came  Mr.  Spin,  and  that  was  the  first  I  saw 
this  celebrity.  As  I  have  before  said,  Spin's 
fame  came  later  and  it  all  came  about  by  chance 
or  accident.  When  I  met  Mr.  Spin  I  was  not 
struck  with  the  fact  that  I  was  facing  one  that  was 
to  become  famous,  but  as  our  acquaintance  ripened 
into  intimacy,  I  learned  to  respect  the  quiet  dig- 
nity, well-bred  manners  and  also  the  high  order 
of  intelligence  displayed  by  Mr.  Spin.  If,  how- 
ever, my  memory  is  correct,  Mr.  Spin,  like  the 
Yellowstone  bear  "Mr.  Dooley"  was  a  miss,  at 
any  rate  he  was  only 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES  305 

A   FOX  TERRIER, 

but  Spin  was  a  traveled  dog,  who  had  visited 
almost  every  city  on  the  globe  big  enough  to  boast 
of  a  play-house,  and  Spin  always  traveled  first-class 
in  company  with  his  master  and  mistress,  and 
although  the  dog  never  had  a  pass,  his  master 
never  paid  for  Spin's  passage. 

As  most  of  my  readers  know,  dogs  are  not  al- 
lowed to  travel  on  railroad  trains  except  in  the 
baggage  cars  or  express  cars,  but  Spin  knew  sev- 
eral tricks  by  which  the  rules  of  the  heartless  cor- 
porations could  be  set  at  naught.  Upon  approach- 
ing a  train  the  sly  dog  would  slip  under  his  mis- 
tress's skirts  and  trot  along  in  concealment,  hidden 
from  the  sharp  eyes  of  the  guards  and  conductors. 

This  wise  and  widely  traveled  dog  would  also 
seek  the  same  hiding  place  whenever  a  uniformed 
trainman  hove  in  sight,  and  in  this  manner,  in 
spite  of  rules  and  regulations,  Spin  managed 
to  travel  over  Europe,  Asia,  Australia,  and  New 
Zealand  in  first-class  coaches  without  a  ticket  or 
a  pass.  While  Spin  was  in  the  prime  of  life  the 
phonograph  began  to  become  popular  and  one  day 
the  dog's  master  talked  into  one  of  the  receivers 
and  sent  the  wax  cylinder  with  the  record  thus 
made  to  his  wife,  who  at  that  time  happened  to  be 
visiting  in  another  city.  When  the  record  was  put 
into  a  phonograph,  and  the  familiar  voice  sounded 
from  the  instrument,  Spin  knew  it  at  once  and  ran 
frisking  to  listen  to 


306  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


ins  MASTER'S  VOICE. 


A  friend  of  the  lady  photographed  Spin  as  he  or 
she  was  in  the  act  of  listening,  and  that  photograph 
by  some  chance  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  phono- 
graph people  who  were  immediately  struck  with 
the  novelty  and  attractiveness  of  the  picture  and 
its  value  as  an  advertisement  for  their  product. 

It  is  very  doubtful  if  the  phonograph  people 
know 

THE  IDENTITY  OF  THE  DOG. 

Spin's  mistress  was  the  late  Mrs.  Willis  P. 
Sweatnam  and  her  master  was  Willis  P.  Sweat- 
nam  himself,  the  Sweatnam  who  in  the  play  of  the 
"County  Chairman"  delighted  the  audiences  night 
after  night  with  his  quaint  humor  and  masterly 
interpretation  of  the  character  of  Sassafras  Livings- 
ton. 

There  has  been  and  always  will  be,  interesting 
discussion  regarding  the  origin  of  our  domestic 
dogs.  Most  people  conceive  that  the  dog's  an- 
cestor was  in  all  probability  the  wolf,  and  we  know 
in  the  Far  North  of  our  own  continent  the  dogs 
belonging  to  the  Esquimaux,  Indians  and  white 
people  are  constantly  in-breeding  with  the  wolves. 
But  whether  the  dog  proceeded  from  the  wolf  or 
not,  when  allowed  to  run  wild,  they  soon  revert 
to  an  animal  closely  resembling  a  wolf  in  looks 
and  character.  There  have  been  reports  of 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES  307 

PACKS  OF  WILD  DOGS 

and  their  ravages  coming  from  all  parts  of  the 
Far  West  ever  since  that  country  began  to  be  in- 
vaded by  the  white  settlers.  Ten  years  ago  there 
was  a  detailed  account  of  a  pack  of  wild  dogs  in 
Montana  which  ranged  the  country  as  far  North 
as  the  Kootenay  Lake,  the  account  traced  the  pack 
back  to  some  neglected  ranch  dogs. 

PACKS  OF  WILD  DOGS. 

Wild  dogs  have  been  reported  from  Georgia 
and  various  parts  of  the  South.  The  only  differ- 
ence between  the  character  of  the  wild  dogs  and 
the  native  wolf  seems  to  be  that  the  wild  dog  is 
bolder  and  fiercer  than  his  aboriginal  brother. 

Personally  the  only  experience  I  ever  had  with  a 
wild  dog  occurred  when  I  was  a  boy  in  Kentucky. 
It  was  a  big  black  dog  with  a  white  sheep-like 
face,  and  it  lived  on  the  banks  of  the  Licking  River. 
The  dog  was  never  seen  in  the  day  time,  but  peo- 
ple who  lived  upon  the  streets  adjoining  the  river 
bank,  frequently  saw  the  white-faced  dog  at  night. 
No  one  was  ever  able  to  approach  the  animal  and 
it  could  not  be  tempted  by  offers  of  food  to  ap- 
proach the  house.  It  was  as  large  as  a  Newfound- 
land dog.  One  day 

I  TRACKED  IT  TO  ITS  DEN, 

which  was  under  some  drift-logs  which  had  been 
piled  upon  the  shore.  I  lay  prone  upon  the  ground 


3o8  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

and  wormed  my  way  under  the  wood-pile  far 
enough  to  see  the  dog  in  its  hiding  place,  then  I 
hurried  to  a  boy  friend  and  told  him  of  my  great 
discovery.  We  decided  that  we  could  capture  the 
wild  dog  and  do  it  as  Putnam  did  the  wolf.  All 
boys  who  are  familiar  with  the  old  legend  of  Gen. 
Putnam  and  the  wolf  know  that  Gen.  Putnam 
crawled  down  the  wolf's  den  and  caught  the  ani- 
mal by  its  ears,  then  the  General's  friends  pulled 
the  hejo  out  by  his  heels.  The  question  between  us 
boys  was,  who  should  be  Putnam  and  who  the 
friend.  After  a  long  and  heated  dispute  it  was 
decided  by  lot,  that  my  chum  should  be  General 
Putnam.  Without  any  further  delay  he  crept  un- 
der the  heap  of  logs  and  I  followed  him.  There 
was  a  snap  and  a  snarl  and  a  yelp,  then  he  cried : 

"PULL,  DOGON  YE,  PULL!" 

I  grasped  him  by  the  feet  and  pulled  him  out, 
and  with  him  came  the  white-faced  dog,  but  we 
no  sooner  got  the  dog  from  under  the  heap  of 
sodden  logs  than  it  gave  a  spring  at  me,  knocked 
over  my  companion  in  doing  so,  and  hit  me  on  the 
chest  with  its  fore-feet  so  that  we  both  fell  in  a 
heap,  and  the  dog  disappeared  in  the  woods,  which 
at  that  time  thickly  covered  the  bank  of  the  river 
just  above  the  suspension  bridge.  What  became  of 
the  white-faced  dog,  I  never  knew.  It  was  a 
powerful  brute,  but  as  timid  as  a  hare.  From 
many  accounts  that  I  have  read  of  the  wild  dogs 
in  the  West,  however,  I  am  ready  to  believe  that 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES  309 

they  are  exceedingly  fierce  animals.  This  belief  is 
substantiated  by  a  very  interesting  account  of  the 
wild  dogs  of  Atlanta,  Georgia,  after  the  siege  of 
that  city  during  the  Civil  War.  Of  these  animals 
the  Atlanta  Constitution  says: 

"OUR  DOGS  HAD  A  HARD  FIGHT 

during  the  siege.  There  were  thousands  of  them 
in  those  days,  and  when  the  season  of  short  ra- 
tions set  in  they  were  the  first  to  feel  it.  In  many 
instances  they  were  abandoned  by  their  refugee 
owners  and  had  to  literally  forage  for  a  living. 

"The  thunder  of  the  big  guns,  the  unearthly 
shrieks  of  the  shells,  the  noise  of  falling  buildings, 
the  rattle  of  musketry,  and  the  heavy  tramp  of 
marching  soldiers,  all  struck  terror  to  the  canine 
contingent.  Toward  the  close  of  the  siege  nearly 
every  dog  in  the  city  was  half  rabid  or  in  the  last 
stage  of  nervous  prostration.  The  wretched  brutes 
sought  shelter  under  houses  and  in  bombproofs. 
Majestic  mastiffs  and  surly  bull-dogs  curled  their 
tails  between  their  legs  and  yelped  mournfully  at 
every  unusual  sound.  Hundreds  of  the  bolder 
ones  made  a  frantic  break  over  the  breastworks 
and  ditches,  and  made  their  way  through  the  lines 
of  both  armies,  never  stopping  until  they  reached 
the  woods. 

"It  was  even  worse  after  Sherman's  army  entered 
the  place.  The  citizens  were  driven  out  in  such  a 
hurry  that  they  had  no  time  to  think  of  their  pets, 
and  no  means  of  transportation  for  them.  Later, 
the  destruction  of  the  city  by  fire,  and  the  general 


310  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

pandemonium  that  ensued,  scattered  the  few  re- 
maining dogs. 

"These  innocent  victims  of  the  ravages  of  war 
had  a  terrible  experience  during  the  rigorous  Win- 
ter of  1864-5.  Their  misery  drove  them  to  form 
strange  partnerships,  and  it  was  a  common  sight 
to  see  them  roving  in  bands  of  a  dozen  or  more. 
'Banish  the  dog  from  his  kennel  and  you  have  a 
wolf,'  was  illustrated  in  this  case.  In  the  course 
of  five  or  six  months  the  country  people  for  fifty 
miles  around  were  spinning  marvelous  yarns  about 
'them  wild  dogs  from  Atlanta.'  " 

The  dog  belongs  to  the  genus  which  produces 
the  wolf,  the  jackal  and  the  fox.  Tame  dogs,  of 
course,  lose  many  of  the  characteristics  of  these 
animals;  but  when  persecution  and  misery  cause 
them  to  relapse  into  their  wild  state  they  take  the 
appearance,  the  habits,  and  the  tastes  of  wolves 
and  jackals.  Such  was  notoriously  the  fact  with 
the  Atlanta  dogs.  They  lost  every  trace  of  do- 
mesticity. They  grew  to  enormous  size,  with  sav- 
age eyes  and  cruel-looking  fangs. 

Occasionally  a  gang  of  these  ferocious  beasts 
would  swoop  down  on  a  farmyard,  devouring 
chickens  and  pigs,  and  attacking  men  when  they 
stood  in  their  way.  It  took  the  liveliest  kind  of 
shooting  to  drive  them  off.  Sometimes  they  would 
surround  a  lonely  cabin  and  wait  for  the  inmates 
to  come  out.  They  even  made  raids  into  little 
villages,  forcing  the  inhabitants  to  shut  themselves 
up  in  their  houses.  The  disappearance  of  many  a 


A  STRING  OF  DOG  TALES 


3** 


negro  in  those  perilous  times  was  fully  accounted 
for  when  his  skeleton  was  found  with  every  parti- 
cle of  flesh  gnawed  oft,  and  with  the  ground 
around  showing  evidences  of  a  desperate  struggle. 
Early  in  1865,  when  a  few  refugees  began  re- 
turning to  Atlanta,  they  had  to  struggle  with  these 
wild  dogs  for  the  possession  of  the  ruins.  Bloody 
encounters  occurred  among  the  ash  heaps  and  piles 
of  debris.  Every  cellar  and  hole  in  the  ground 
held  these  ravenous  brutes,  and  they  leaped  upon 
men,  women  and  children  without  the  slightest 
provocation.  At  that  time  it  was  dangerous  to 
ride  or  drive  out  in  the  country.  On  the  main 
road  between  Atlanta  and  Decatur,  in  broad  day- 
light, dogs  were  known  to  attack  horses  attached 


SNAP 


SHOT    OF    TREE -CLIMBING     BULL    TERRIER,    TAKEN 
ON   FLUSHING    INSTITUTE   GROUNDS. 


312  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

to  buggies,  forcing  their  drivers  to  open  a  hostile 
fusilade  with  their  revolvers. 

After  getting  this  taste  of  a  wild  life  the  Atlanta 
dogs  went  to  the  bad  altogether.  A  relentless  war- 
fare was  waged  upon  them  from  Stone  Mountain 
to  Kenesaw,  and  one  by  one  they  bit  the  dust  until 
they  were  all  wiped  out. 

A  TREE  CLIMBING  DOG. 

Mr.  Guild,  formerly  of  Flushing,  L.  L,  owned 
a  bull  terrier  which  could  run  up  a  tree  trunk  13 
or  14  feet.  I  measured  one  run  of  over  13  feet. 
While  Mr.  Guild  held  the  dog  one  of  the  company 
would  mount  a  ladder  and  hang  a  handkerchief 
to  the  tree;  when  freed  the  dog  would  make  a 
dash,  run  up  the  trunk  and  secure  the  handker- 
chief. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS 

MYSTERIES    AND    FABLES     SURROUNDING    THE     BIRTH    OF    THIS 

ANIMAL OPOSSUM     HUNTING     AND     OPOSSUM     EATING — A 

WEASEL  INSPECTS  WILD  LANDS — THE  WEASEL  AND  A 
CROW'S  NEST — WEASEL  BOXES  WITH  A  MASTIFF — AN 

ANIMATED  PHONOGRAPH  FROM  PENNSYLVANIA — WHO 
TELLS  A  WEASEL'S  STORY — A  FOUR  FOOT  BLACK  BASS — A 
SEA  SERPENT — WE  SEE  WHAT  WE  THINK  WE  SEE — SOME 
GENUINE  NATURE  FAKING — THE  WONDERFUL  KILL-A-LOO 

BIRD  — STORY  IN   PICTURES  OF  TREE   BARKERS. 

BORN   BLIND  AND  DEAF. 

Australia  seems  to  be  a  spot  set  aside  by  nature 
for  experiments  in  curious  forms  of  animal  life. 
By  some  means,  in  the  far  distant  past,  a  repre- 
sentative of  that  singular  order,  the  marsupials, 
reached  North  America,  where  it  is  still  to  be 
found  in  abundance,  a  source  of  wonder  to  the 
ignorant  and  a  puzzle  to  men  of  science.  It  was 
not  until  1848  that  the  mysteries  and  fables 
shrouding  the  birth  of  this  animal  were  swept  away 
by  Bachman  and  some  of  his  friends,  who,  by  dili- 
gent work  and  patient  experiment,  set  aside  for- 
ever the  wild  theories  of  such  men  as  Valentine, 
Marcgrave,  Piso,  Beverly,  Pennant  and  others, 
who  held  that  the  young  of  this  creature  grew  upon 


3  H  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

the  mother's  breast  as  the  fruit  does  upon  the  stalk. 

The  common  opossum  is  described  by  scientists 
as  follows:  "Head  long  and  conical,  muzzle 
pointed,  ears  large  and  membraneous,  rounded,  and 
almost  naked,  tongue  aculeated,  internal  toe  of 
hind  foot  opposable  to  fingers,"  etc.  Equally  good 
and  far  less  technical  is  the  description  given  by 
a  small  street  Arab  as  he  gazed  at  one  of  these 
animals  in  the  writer's  possession:  "Oh,  looky, 
Billy,"  said  he,  "see  that  big  rat;  hit's  got  a  pig's 
head,  a  'coon's  body,  monkey's  feet,  and  a  rat's 
tail."  The  accuracy  of  the  last  description  may 
be  tested  by  reference  to  the  engraving  on  page 
318  showing  the  parts  in  detail 

According  to  "Wood,"  fifteen  days  elapse,  and 
the  young  opossum  comes  into  this  world,  a  di- 
minutive, helpless  babe,  weighing  not  more  than 
three  or  four  grains,  blind,  naked  and  deaf.  It 
cannot  even  open  its  mouth,  its  jaws  being  sealed 
together,  a  small  orifice  only  left  at  the  muzzle, 
through  which  it  receives  its  nourishment.  One 
would  think  it  was  ill  adapted  to  buffet  with  the 
rough  world,  but  Nature,  ever  kind  to  her 
creatures,  has  ready  prepared  a  soft  cradle  for  its 
reception,  where  it  is  placed  by  its  mother.  The 
opossum, 

LIKE  ITS  COUSIN,  THE  KANGAROO, 

is  a  pouched  animal;  within  the  pouch  are  the 
mammae;  to  one  of  these  the  young  opossum  fas- 
tens itself  almost  immediately  after  being  placed 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS   315 

in  the  pouch.  The  growth  of  this  babe  is  sur- 
prisingly rapid,  increasing  from  three  and  three- 
quarter  grains  to  thirty  grains  in  a  week.  In  four 
weeks'  time  its  funny  head  may  be  seen  peering 
cautiously  out  at  the  great  wide  world :  and  at  the 
end  of  the  fifth  week  the  little  fellow  is  able  to 
leave  its  snug  quarters  and  venture  out  of  doors. 
Not  being  over-confident  of  its  ability  to  take  care 
of  itself  it  grasps  with  its  prehensile  tail,  the  tail 
of  its  mother. 

You  have  but  to  spend  a  short  time  upon  some 
Southern  plantation  to  learn 

THE  CHARMS  OF  A   'POSSUM   HUNT, 


UNFINISHED   WORK   OF    A    BEAVER    UPON   A   LARGE   TREE 
Photographed  by  the  Author 


316  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

and  if  you  can  overcome  your  scruples  enough  to 
taste  the  meat  after  it  is  prepared  by  one  of  the 
sable  huntsmen,  you  will  pronounce  it  good. 

Though  this  marsupial  sometimes  makes  raids 
upon  hens'  nests  and  occasionally  upon  the  hens 
themselves,  the  good  it  accomplishes  in  exterminat- 
ing other  more  mischievous  animals  doubly  repays 
for  a  few  stolen  eggs  and  an  occasional  chicken. 
One  that  Bachman  kept  in  a  stable  chased  or  de- 
voured every  rat  upon  the  place. 

I  once  secured  a  large  female  opossum  from 
Charleston,  S.  C.  When  caught  she  had  three 
young  ones  in  her  pouch,  but  when  the  Charleston 
steamer  arrived  at  this  port  I  was  disappointed 
to  find  the  young  ones  missing.  It  is  said  that  these 
animals  are  readily  domesticated,  soon  becoming 
very  tame  and  gentle,  which  is  probably  true.  But 
the  one  I  had,  possibly  through  disappointment 
at  the  loss  of  her  family,  had  a  very  ugly  temper. 
She  occupied  the  house  formerly  the  home  of  the 
pygmy  musk  deer,  an  illustration  and  description 
of  which  you  will  find  in  this  book.  Whenever 
I  approached  the  house  she  retreated  to  the  further- 
most corner  and  there,  with  distended  jaws,  defied 
further  molestation. 

The  opossum  to  me  is  most  interesting  because 
it  is 

AN  ANIMAL  OF  NOVEL  CONSTRUCTION 

and  habits,  not  because  it  shows  any  great  degree  of 
intelligence,  but  it  makes  a  good  pet.  I  have  eaten 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS   317 

opossums  and  can  say  that  when  they  are  properly 
cooked,  they  are  not  only  a  good,  but  a  delicious, 
article  of  food.  The  fat  is  very  fine  and  oily  and 
is  so  mild  to  the  taste  that  one  is  in  great  danger 
of  eating  too  much  before  becoming  aware  of  its 
exceeding  richness.  I  made  this  mistake  myself 
with  my  first  roasted  opossum,  and  ate  so  heartily 
of  the  rich  food  that  it  was  a  long  time  before  I 
could  bear  the  thought  of  trying  it  again.  Of  late 
years  the  opossum  seems  to  be  migrating  north. 
When  I  first  came  to  Long  Island,  in  1878,  the 
opossum  was  unknown  to  the  hunters  and  farmers 
on  the  Island,  and  the  one  I  received  from  Charles- 
ton was  looked  upon  as  a  great  curiosity  in  Flush- 
ing, but  since  then  they  have  invaded  not 
only  the  farms,  but  also  the  villages,  and  I 
have  seen  them  captured  in  the  street  in  the  Bor- 
ough of  Queens,  New  York  City.  When  I  first 
went  to  Pike  County,  Pennsylvania,  the  natives 
there 

HAD   NEVER   SEEN   ONE, 

but  this  summer,  1907,  I  heard  of  several  having 
been  captured  in  that  township.  According  to  the 
Savannah  News,  a  Mr.  Thomas  Chancey  has 
awakened  to  the  possibilities. of  the  opossum  as  a 
food  animal,  and  gone  into  the  business  of  opossum 
raising  on  an  extensive  scale.  His  opossum  ranch 
is  enclosed  with  a  wire  fence,  to  keep  out  the 
'possum  hunters.  This  novel  farm  is  said  to  be 
located  about  a  mile  from  Hawkinsville.  Accord- 


318  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ing  to  the  statement  in  the  same  paper,  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  'possum  ranch  would  bring  from  forty 


THE  OPOSSUM  WITH  DETAILS  OF  PARTS 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS   319 

cents  to  eighty  cents  apiece,    and    have    a    ready 
sale  in  the  Southern  market. 

One  rainy  day  while  I  was  sitting  in  front  of 
the  blazing  fire  in  my  camp, 

I  SAW  A  WEASEL 

appear  in  front  of  my  window.  From  my  vantage 
ground  I  could  watch  it  with  no  danger  of  dis- 
turbing the  little  animal.  It  ran  around  to  the 
kitchen  door,  looked  into  every  can  and  dish,  ex- 
amined the  door-sill  and  inspected  the  closed  door, 
then  climbed  up  on  the  slanting  cellar  door  and 
sitting  up  on  its  hind  legs  looked  long  and  at- 
tentively into  the  kitchen  window.  The  contents 
of  the  kitchen  seemed  to  interest  it  so  much,  that 
it  must  have  sat  there  at  least  ten  minutes  before 
it  slowly  turned  around  and  made  its  way  to  the 
wood-shed,  making  a  more  complete  inspection  of 
that  building  than  a  Japanese  spy  would  of 
s~*«\  \~/~T~?  a  Russian  fort.  From 
^r^  there  it  went  to  the 

woodpile  outside  of 
the  shed  and  disap- 
peared underneath. 
The  interesting  part 
j\  about  all  this  was  the 

very  careful  manner  in 
which      the      little 

*v        -  \  \  animal      made     .its 

>>-  /  ^  /i     j  tour      of      inspection. 

Weasels   are   often   to 

MR.  LANGDON  GIBSON 
EXAMINING  A  CROW'S  NEST          be    found 


I 


320  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

IN   VERY    UNEXPECTED   PLACES. 

One  time  when  Langdon  Gibson,  Charles  Dana 
Gibson  and  I  were  out  in  the  woods  we  induced 
Langdon  to  climb  to  the  top  of  a  tall  tree  and 
examine  a  crow's  nest.  An  exclamation  of  sur- 
prise and  amusement  was  heard  from  Langdon 
as  soon  as  his  face  reached  the  level  of  the  nest. 
Then  he  cried,  "Guess  what  it  is,"  and  threw  some- 
thing down  to  the  ground.  My  little  dog 
"Monad"  was  with  me  at  the  time  and  the  Gib- 
son boys  had  a  big  mastiff  dog  with  them.  Monad 
made  a  grab  for  the  object  the  moment  it  struck 
the  ground,  but  the  big  mastiff  pushed  him  one 
side,  and  then  stopped  as  if  in  doubt  at  what  next 
to  do.  For  there  in  front  of  him  stood  a  small 
animal  bolt  upright,  and  it  was  most  comical  to 

SEE  A  WEASEL  JUMP  AND  BOX 

the  big  dog  with  its  front  feet  whenever  the  dog's 
nose  approached  it.  Apparently  the  mastiff  at 
length  became  ashamed  of  being  held  at  bay  by  so 
small  a  creature,  and  so  he  made  a  rush  at  the 
weasel.  It  was  now  the  mastiff's  turn  to  box  its 
own  face  for  the  weasel  had  fastened  its  teeth 

TO  THE  END  OF  THE  DOG'S  NOSE, 

and  it  hung  on  in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  dislodge  it. 
If  I  remember  aright,  it  was  not  until  Charles 
Dana  took  a  hand  in  the  fight  that  the  weasel 
was  at  last  vanquished.  I  almost  forgot  to  say 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS   321 

that  the  weasel  was  the  sole  occupant  of  the  crow's 
nest. 

One  summer  I  was    traveling    on    board    the 
"Katydid,"  a  small  steamer  which  formerly  ran 


THIS  BEAVER  HAS  ALL  THE  APPEARANCES  OF  A  DEAD 
ANIMAL  POSED  FOR  THE  CAMERA 

on  the  Ohio  River  during  low  water,  and  has  since 
blown  up.  The  craft  was  a  queer,  crazy  little  af- 
fair, with 

A  VIOLENT-TEMPERED,   PUFFING  ENGINE, 

and  a  jolly  crew.  If  the  boat  was  queer  the  pas- 
sengers were  also  peculiar.  There  was  one  man 
from  Pennsylvania  with  light-colored  chin  whiskers 
and  long,  light-colored  hair  combed  back  behind 
his  ears  and  a  very  large  turned-up  nose. 


322  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


HE  WAS  AN  ANIMATED  PHONOGRAPH. 

By  this  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  his  remarks 
were  not  original,  he  probably  made  his  own  rec- 
ords and  then  ground  them  out.  At  any  rate  he 
talked  a  blue  streak  in  a  monotonous  tone.  He 
was  talking  when  I  got  aboard  the  boat  at  Wheel- 
ing, W.  Va.,  and  I  left  him  talking  when  I  went 
ashore  at  Ironton,  Ohio.  If  I  had  been  a  short- 
hand reporter  I  would  have  had  quaint  stories 
enough  to  have  filled  a  book  of  several  volumes, 
and  in  my  note-book  of  that  day  I  find  an  attempt 
to  report  some  of  his  talk  in  longhand.  I  will 
quote  only  that  part  that  refers  to  the  weasel. 

"Well,  sir,  when  I  use  ter  live  in  Union,  Penn- 
sylvania, I  was  tortling  through  the  woods  one 
day  when  my  little  dog  started  somein'  from  un- 
der a  stun.  I  seed  it  was  a  weasel,  an'  I  always 
calcaleted  they  were  the  usefulest  animals  we  could 
have  on  a  farm,  so  I  called  off  my  purp  jest  as  he 
had  chased  the  stoat  to  the  woodpile.  We  had  been 
pestered  with  rats  round  the  house:  they  stole  th' 
hen's  eggs  an' 


KILLED  THE  YOUNG  CHICKENS  AND  DUCKS. 


I  saw  one  drag  a    good-sized    pullet    into    its 
hole  under  th'  barn,  so  I  jest  thought  that  the 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS      323 


PHOTOGRAPH  OF  A  FISHER 
PROBABLY  FAST  IN  A  TRAP. 


woodpile  wus  a 
good  place  fer 
that  weasel.  Out 
o'  the  middle  of 
the  woodpile 
there  wus  an'  old 
apple  tree  grow- 
ing which  had  a 
few  little  dried 
up  apples  and  no 
leaves  worth  mentioning  on  it.  The  tree  wus  about 
dead  and  the  branches  came  up  to  my  winder. 
When  I  got  up  th'  next  mornin'  about  four  o'clock 
it  wus  rainin'  pitchforks,  but  I  noticed  ther'  wus 
somein'  a  matter  with  th'  old  apple  tree.  It  had 
fruited  durin'  th'  night,  but  when  I  wrent  to  ex- 
amine that  'ere  fruit,  by  gum,  it  turned  out  ter  be 
rats.  Yes,  sir-ee.  As  sure  as  I  am  here  the  tree 
wus  filled  with  great  big  rats.  I  counted  twenty- 
five  of  'em  on  one  branch.  Traps !  Why,  sir,  one 
weasel  will  beat  all  the  cats,  dogs  and  traps  yer  can 
git.  I  did  set  some  traps  one  night  an'  kivered 
thim  up  with  leaves.  In  th'  mornin'  I  found  six 
mink  in  th'  traps,  but  nary  a  rat !  I  caught  twenty 
polecats  in  the  traps.  Smell  bad?  No,  sir.  I 
jest  hung  'em  up  in  a  tree  fer  a  day  or  two  and 
then  skun  'em.  But  say,  after  I  skunned  those  pole- 
cats, I  went  out  to  the  woodpile  ter  git  some 
wood,  and  that  ther'  weasel  came  out,  took  one 
look  at  me  an'  pretty  near  sneezed  his  head  off 
rubbed  his  nose  with  both  paws  and  tuk  ter  th' 


324  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

woods.  But  weasels  are  awful  particular  animals 
about  smells." 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  this  man  started  out  with 
the  intention  of  telling  the  truth.  The  incident  of 
the  little  dog  and  the  weasel,  the  fact  of  its  start- 
ing the  creature  from  under  a  stone,  sounds  too 
natural  to  be  fictitious:  the  weasel  taking  refuge 
in  the  woodpile  is  just  what  a  weasel  would  do 
under  those  circumstances,  and  I  have  little  doubt 
that  when  the  weasel  got  in  the  woodpile  the  rats 
left  it. 

Now  just  here  there  are  possibilities  which  would 
appeal  to 

ANY  MAN  WITH  A  VIVID  IMAGINATION 

so  strongly  that  only  a  person  of  firm  character 
could  resist  the  temptation,  and  it  is  here  that  our 
friend  from  Union,  Pennsylvania,  began  to  depart 
from  the  lines  of  truth. 

In  reading  nature  stories  one  must  use  the  same 
judgment  that  one  does  in  any  other  sort  of  narra- 
tive upon  any  other  subject.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
believe  in 

ALL   THE    FAIRY    STORIES; 

well-meaning  but  untrained  observers  tell  of  things 
that  (they  think)  they  see  or  experiences  (they 
think)  they  have  had.  Neither  is  it  necessary 
to  condemn  these  people  as  intentional  falsifiers. 
We  all  of  us  smile  indulgently  at  the  fisherman 
when  he-  tells  of  the  fish  of  gigantic  proportions 
which  ugot  away,"  and  only  the  other  day  a  truth- 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS   325 

ful  man  on  Big  Tink  Pond  hooked  onto  a  large 
bass,  probably  four  or  five  pounds  weight;  of 
course  the  bass  jumped  up  above  the  water,  and  as 
the  man  was  no  angler  the  fish  got  away  on  the  first 
plunge.  . 

There  were  several  witnesses  to  this  little  epi- 
sode, all  of  them  native  farmers,  and  when  the 
fisherman  told  of  the 

FOUR-FOOT  BASS 

none  of  them  even  smiled ;  they  all  really  believed 
the  fish  was  four  feet  long,  and  I  had  not  the 
heart  to  protest,  although  the  largest  small-mouth 
black  bass  ever  caught  in  those  waters  weighed  but 
five  and  three-quarter  pounds. 

To  satisfy  my  curiosity  I  have  for  years  saved 
the  newspaper  accounts  of  wonderful  nature 
stories,  and  wherever  it  was  possible  made  personal 
investigations  regarding  them,  the  result  being  that 
I  am  convinced  that  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  these 
stories  are  genuine ; 

BUT 

the  untrained  observers  who  write  them  up  make 
the  stories  unbelievable  by  attributing  wrong  mo- 
tives to  the  simple  acts  of  animals,  or  a  guess 
at  dimensions  so  as  to  make  a  four-foot  rattle- 
snake seven  and  even  eight  feet  long. 

I  have  written  for  and  secured  photographs  of 
many 


326  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

SEA   MONSTERS, 

and  they  were  all  genuine  and  to  be  found  in  any 
natural  history. 

A  SEA  SERPENT 

from  the  North  Pacific  Coast  proved  to  be  a  fish 
and  not  a  snake.    A  "horrible  sea  devil"  from  the 


THIS  IS   A   PHOTOGRAPH   OF  A   FISH,   THAT   THE  NEWS- 
PAPERS ANNOUNCED  AS  A   SEA-SERPENT 

Long  Island  Sound  was  the  angler  fish,  common 
to  naturalists  but  seldom  seen  by  inland  newspaper 
reporters. 

A    FAKIR 

is  one  who  intentionally  deceives,  but  an  ignorant 
person  or  one  whose  poetic  and  romantic  nature 
causes  him  to  see  everything  surrounded  by  an  at- 
mosphere of  fancy,  although  he  is  an  inaccurate 
observer,  cannot  justly  be  accused  of 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS   327 
NATURE  FAKING. 

Philosophers  tell  us  that  human  thought  creates 
that  which  it  imagines.  That  is  a  tough  proposi- 
tion, but  we  know  it  to  be  true  in  dreams  and  de- 
lirium and  can  believe  that  even  when  we  are  wide 
awake  and  in  good  health,  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, we  see  just  what  we  are  educated  to  believe 
exists.  In  other  words 

WE  SEE  WHAT  WE  THINK  WE  SEE. 

In  olden  times  almost  any  sort  of  improbable, 
impossible  story  would  be  accepted  as  truth,  espe- 
cially if  it  were  told  in  regard  to  Nature  and  her 
children,  and  in  every  old  book  of  Natural  His- 
tory we  see  the  results. 

The  old  illustrators'  eyes  were  as  good  as  ours, 
their  minds  were  as  keen  and  their  brains  weighed 
as  much  as  that  of  the  modern  illustrator,  but 
when  they  drew  a  picture  of  the  narwhal,  for  in- 
stance, because  of  its  one  tusk,  they  gave  it 

THE  HEAD  OF  A  UNICORN, 

and  because  it  lived  in  the  water,  the  scales  of  a 
fish! 

When  they  made  a  picture  of  a  sea-cow,  they 
gave  it  the  trunk  and  head  of  a  woman  with  the 
tail  of  a  fish  and  called  it  a  mermaid.  These  things 
had  no  existence  outside  of  the  brains  of  the  peo- 
ple and  yet  even 


328  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

COLUMBUS  SAW  MERMAIDS 

in  the  ocean. 

A  man  who  would  see  mermaids  today  would 
be  put  in  the  alcoholic  ward  of  a  hospital  or  a  so- 
called  sanitarium  for  "nervous  patients";  in  plain 
language  a  lunatic  asylum. 

Although  skillful  photographers  can  make  the 
camera  tell  some  terrible  and  over-powering  false- 
hoods, 

THE   CAMERA   ITSELF   IS    HONEST 

and  straightforward.  Had  Columbus  and  his 
predecessors  taken  snap-shots  of  the  mermaids  and 
the  old  illustrator  done  the  same  with  the  narwhal, 
the  unicorn  fish  and  the  mermaid  would  have  found 
no  place  in  our  books. 

There  was  a  truthful,  matter-of-fact  old  lady 
up  the  Hudson  River  who 

SAW  A  HOOP-SNAKE 

roll  down  hill  beside  her;  of  course  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  hoop-snake,  but  that  makes  no  dif- 
ference ;  the  old  lady  had  been  taught  from  child- 
hood to  believe  in  this  fabulous  reptile  and  when 
a  blue  racer  or  some  other  snake  swiftly  glided 
out  of  her  path,  her  imagination  immediately  con- 
verted it  into  a  hoop-snake  and 

SO  SHE  SAW  ONE 

with  its  tail  in  its  mouth  roll  down  the  hill. 

All  of  us  have  our  own  preconceived  notions 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS   329 

with  which  to  contend  when  we  make  observations. 
When  Mr.  John  Burroughs  describes  a  bird  it  is 
a  Burroughs  bird;  when  Mr.  Seton  describes  a 
wolf,  it  is  the  kind  of  wolf  Seton  would  be  if  he 
was  transformed  into  one  of  these  animals.  When 
Mr.  Roosevelt  describes  an  animal,  it  is  a  Teddy 
animal,  and  Dr.  Long's  bird  mends  its  broken  leg 
as  the  doctor  thinks  he  himself  would  do  if  he 
was  a  broken-legged  bird.  None  of  us  can  escape 
our  own  individuality,  surroundings  and  training. 
It  may  be  that  it  was  my  training  which  made  me 
guilty  upon  one  occasion  of 

SOME  REAL  NATURE   FAKING. 

When  the  hunting  season  opens  and  the  sports- 
men flock  to  the  woods  the  temperature  at  Wild 
Lands  becomes  very  cool  in  the  daytime  and  chilly 
at  night.  Roaring  big  log  fires  somewhat  modify 
the  cold  air  inside  the  house,  and  the  dogs  eagerly 
crowd  around  the  hearth  in  front  of  us  and  our 
guests.  Then  it  is  that  we  put  big  stones  in  the 
fire  and  when  we  retire  at  night  all  of  us  carry 
them  with  us  to  keep  our  feet  warm.  One  night 
when  we  all  retired  as  usual  and  were  sleeping 
soundly  we  were  aroused  by  the  late  arrival  of 
guests.  A  very  charming  girl  who  was  visiting  us 
at  the  time  and  who  is  known  to  many  of  my  read- 
ers by  her  contributions  to  the  current  magazines 
is  a  very  great  admirer  of  Browning;  in  fact,  dur- 
ing her  stay  at  Wild  Lands  her  time  was  divided 
between 


330  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

HER  GUN  AND  HER  BOOK, 

and  she  was  seldom  without  one  or  both  in  her 
hands.  Upon  this  particular  night  she  had  taken 
her  volume  of  Browning  to  bed  with  her.  Being 
awakened  by  the  commotion  caused  by  the  arrival 
of  the  visitors  she  sat  up  in  bed  until  her  feet  were 
cold,  then  she  replaced  the  stone  at  her  feet  and 
suffered  no  more  with  the  cold  but  slept  peacefully 
until  morning — only  to  find  upon  arising  that  the 
stone  was  on  the  floor  and  her  feet  had  been 
warmed  all  night  by  the  fervid  poetry  of  Brown- 
ing. 

She  told  of  this  at  breakfast,  and  we  all  had  a 
good  laugh,  especially  did  the  new  arrivals  enjoy 
the  joke,  and  they  said  many  things  about  mind 
cure  for  cold  feet  and  the  power  of  imagination; 
but  their  turn  came  next,  although  they  did  not 
tell  the  story  upon  themselves. 

A  Pike  County  farmer  had  presented  to  us  a 
number  of  large  turnips;  they  were  of  monstrous 
growth,  and  I  really  do  not  know  what  our  friend 
expected  us  to  do  with  them;  they  were  as  fit  for 
food  as  pine  knots  soaked  in  water  might  be. 
When  the  two  sportsmen  guests,  with  a  native 
driver,  had  gone  for  their  baggage  we  took  the 
turnips  and  with  some  wooden  toothpicks,  we  fas- 
tened the  skins  of_ruffed  grouse  over  the  vegeta- 
bles, and  when  there  were  no  tail  feathers  on  the 
grouse  skin  we  used  rabbits'  tails  pegged  to  the 
proper  place  as  substitutes.  For  heads  we  took  some 
fish  heads  which  had  been  cut  from  the  largest 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS   331 

pickerel  which  we  had  been  saving  to  show  to  our 
guests  when  they  should  ask  how  the  fish  were  bit- 
ing. The  heads  had  been  hung  on  trees  to  dry, 
and  their  mouths  we  propped  open  with  sticks  to 
give  greater  effect  to  the  trophies;  a  bunch  of  wild 
ducks  supplied  their  legs  for  the  nondescript  birds. 
We  made  a  half-dozen  of  these  absurd  birds  and 
set  them  up  on  stumps  and  stones  all  around,  out- 
side the  cabin,  and  they  were 

THE     MOST     OUTRAGEOUS,     BLAMEDEST     LOOKING 
THINGS  EVER  SEEN. 

The  pickerel  heads  were  astonishingly  bird-like, 
yet  bore  no  relationship  to  any  living  fowl.  In 
fact  there  was  such  an  air  of  possibility  and  reality 
about  the  creations  that  they  would  deceive  almost 
anyone,  and  yet  with  their  rabbit  tails,  or  feather 
tails,  neat  brown  feathered  backs  and  wings,  strad- 
dling duck  legs,  with  gaping  pickerel  heads,  they 
belonged  more  to  Welsh  rarebit  dreams  than  to 
this  prosaic  world. 

When  the  two  sportsmen  returned  with  their 
baggage  and  guns  they  hailed  me  as  they  drove 
up,  asking,  "What  chance  is  there  for  shooting?" 
To  which  I  replied  with  a  dubious  shake  of  the 
head:  "I'm  afraid  it  is  a  very  poor  place;  there 
don't  seem  to  be  anything  but  kill-a-loo  birds 
around  this  fall." 

"KILL-A-LOO  BIRDS?" 
they  shouted   in   chorus.      "We   never   heard   of 


332  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

"Well,"  said  I,  "I  think  the  kill-a-loos  have 
driven  all  the  game  away." 

"Can  you  show  us  one?"  laughed  one  of  the 
sportsmen. 

"Maybe,"  I  replied,  "they  generally  come 
around  about  this  time  of  day,"  and  with  that  I 
looked  about  in  every  direction,  as  if  in  search  of 
some  of  this  new  sort  of  game.  "There!  I  think 
there  is  one  over  there,"  I  cried  in  a  loud  whisper, 
pointing  to  a  stump  near  at  hand. 

As  the  sportsmen  and  the  driver  looked  at  the 
stump 

THEIR  JAWS  DROPPED 

and  their  utter  bewilderment  was  most  laughable. 
The  driver  showed  his  emotion  by  pulling  upon 
the  reins  and  addressing  remarks  to  the  horse,  not- 
withstanding that  these  beasts  were  standing 
quietly  in  the  road.  With  his  bulging  eyes  fixed 
upon  the  kill-a-loo  birds  the  teamster  began  pull- 
ing on  the  reins,  loudly  crying:  "Whoa  !  Whoa— 
—a — a!"  and  muttering,  "I'll  be  gol-durned  if 
I'd  ever  seed  one  of  them  afore !"  The  sportsmen 
had  started  to  reach  for  their  gun-cases,  but  for- 
got to  open  them  as  they  stared  transfixed  with 
silent  wonder  upon  the  strange  bird. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  I  asked.  "These  are 
common  birds  here.  There  is  another  one,  and 
yet  another  over  there  on  that  log;  they  are  all 
around  here.  I  told  you  this  was  the  time  of 
day  they 'usually  came."  The  rest  of  the  house- 


OPOSSUMS  AND  OTHER  SMALL  ANIMALS   333 

hold  who  had 
been  interested 
spectators 
could  restrain 
their  merri- 
ment no  longer, 
and  the  shout 
of  laughter 
they  gave  was 
the  first  thing 
which  caused 
the  three  men 
in  the  wagon 
to  suspect 
something 
wrong,  but  it 
was  not  until 
they  took  the 
birds  in  their 
hands  that  they 
were  really  sat- 
isfied that  they 
were  fakes. 

When  the  vacation  was  over,  the  kill-a-loos  were 
carefully  packed  away  in  the  sportsmen's  trunks 
and  taken  home  for  exhibition  as  samples  of  the 
sort  of  game  found  on  the  shores  of  Big  Tink 
Pond. 


A  TOTEM  KILL-A-LOO  BIRD 

TWELVE  FEET  HIGH,  BUILT 

BY  STEWARD  EDWARD  WHITE 

FROM  PLANS  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS 

SPORTSMEN  AND  FALCONRY — THE  SCREAM  OF  A  PANTHER — 
PANTHER  ONE-HALF  DAY'S  JOURNEY  FROM  MANHATTAN- 
PANTHER  SIGN — YELLOWSTONE  KELLY  AND  A  PANTHER — 
GRANDFATHER'S  ADVENTURE — FOOTSTEPS  BEHIND  HIM — 

MY  HAIR  STOOD  ON  END BITTEN  BY  A  GRIZZLY — MCLEOD's 

MOUNTAIN  LION — STANLEY  WITH  A  MOUNTAIN  LION  ON  HIS 
BACK — WILD  ANIMAL  STORES  AND  WILD  ANIMAL  SHIPS — 
SCUFFLE  WITH  A  BLUE-FACED  BABOON. 

In  the  olden  time  when  all  sport  was  the  recrea- 
tion of  kings  and  nobles,  there  was  as  much  formal- 
ity connected  with  it  as  with  any  other  court  func- 
tion. Of  course  you  all  know  that  "the  four-hun- 
dred" of  mediaeval  times  was  wont  to 

HUNT  WITH  FALCONS, 

that  is  with  trained  hawks ;  but  it  must  not  be  sup- 
posed that  the  king  would  hunt  with  the  same 
sort  of  bird  as  a  squire.  No,  no,  that  would  have 
been  a  terrible  social  error,  an  inexcusable  one 
even  for  a  king  to  make.  Soon  after  the  Norman 
conquest  the  laws  of  the  land  named  the  sort  of 
birds  that  the  members  of  each  grade  of  society 
might  use.  There  was 

334 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS  335 

ONE    SORT   OF   BIRD   RESERVED    FOR   KINGS, 

another  for  princes  of  the  blood,  still  another  for 
dukes  and  great  lords.  Fifteen  grades  in  all  from 
the  king  to  the  knave,  from  the  Peregrine  down 
to  the  little  sparrow-hawk.  But  only  the  female 
peregrine  was  entitled  to  the  name  of 

THE    FALCON. 

On  account  of  her  superior  strength,  great  size 
and  courage  the  falcon  was  flown  at  ducks  and 
herons.  In  another  place  in  .this  book  will  be 
found  the  record  of  a  blue  heron  putting  an  old 
bald-headed  eagle  to  flight  after  the  latter  had 
made  an  unprovoked  attack  upon  the  heron ;  from 
this  incident  we  may  be  led  to  believe  that  it 
really  does  require  a  bird  of  strength  and  courage 
to  attack  a  heron. 

The  male  peregrine  was  formerly  called 

TERCEL,  TIERCEL,  OR  TIERCELET, 

and  was  flown  at  partridges  and  magpies,  and  so 
all  of  these  birds  were  divided  up  not  only  in 
their  use  in  the  field,  but  also  as  to  who  could  fly 
them. 

In  spite  of  all  this  tomfoolery  of  royalty,  how- 
ever, and  its  childlike  regulation  of  the  names  and 
uses  of  hawks,  there  is  a  glamor  of  romance  about 
those  times  and  about  falconry  which  appeals  to  us 
all.  We  all  love  to  read  of  the  people  "In  days  of 
old  when  knights  were  bold,  and  barons  held  their 


336  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

sway,"  when  a  genial  iron-monger  like  Mr.  Car- 
negie, for  instance,  would  have  furnished  sheet 
iron  suits  of  clothes  for  his  fellow-citizens  in  place 
of  libraries.  Those  were  great  old  days  (for  the 
knights  and  royalty). 

A  knight  always  paid  his  court  to  his  fair  one 
by 

HIS  MARKED  ATTENTION  TO  HER  FALCONS, 

using  the  greatest  judgment  in  flying  the  bird  at 
the  proper  moment,  never  losing  sight  of  it,  en- 
couraging it  by  calls,  following  it  and  securing  the 
prey  from  the  death-dealing  talons:  then,  with  a 
caress  for  reward  for  the  lucky  or  skillful  work, 
the  knight  would 

SLIP  THE  HOOD  OVER  THE  BIRD'S  HEAD 

and  with  all  the  grace  he  could  assume  place  the 
falcon  on  the  slender  wrist  of  the  bird's  mistress. 

What  are  the  proper  terms  to  use  for  congrega- 
tions of  animals  of  different  kinds  is  a  question 
frequently  asked,  and  for  the  benefit  of  those  in- 
terested in  speaking  "according  to  Hoyle,"  the  cor- 
rect names  have  been  collected  for  the  reader.  It 
may  be  well  to  say  that  Hoyle  in  this  instance  is 
the  ancient  custom. 

Today  we  commonly  use  the 

COWBOY'S  TERM  "BUNCH" 
for  everything  alive  or  dead.     It  is  customary  now 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS          337 

to  speak  of  a  bunch  of  cattle,  but  we  frequently 
hear  of  a  covey  of  quail :  if,  however,  we  go  back 
to  the  original  use  of  this  word,  covey  is  only  ap- 
plied to  partridges.  In  some  parts  of  the  United 
States  the  bob-white  is  called  a  partridge  and  in 
other  parts  a  quail,  and  I  suppose  that  in  those 
parts  of  the  country  where  it  is  called  a  partridge 
it  would  be  perfectly  proper  to  speak  of  a  group 
of  them  as  a  covey,  but,  if  we  call  the  bob-white  a 
quail,  according  to  Hoyle,  we  must  speak  of 

A  GROUP  OF  THEM  AS  A  BEVY. 

Bevy  is  frequently  now  used  for  a  group  of  young 
girls,  but  this  is  not  an  Americanism,  for  it  was 
used  in  the  same  sense  in  mediaeval  times  in  Eng- 
land. 

The  old  use  of  these  words  as  laid  down  in  the 
ancient  books  of  hunting  and  falconry,  is  as  fol- 
lows: when  beasts  went  together  in  companies  a 
group  of  lions  was  called 

A  PRIDE  OF  LIONS. 

It  was  also  a  lepe  of  leopards.  Herd  was  proper 
for  deer  or  elk  of  any  sort,  and  generally  used  for 
all  kinds  of  horned  beasts,  but  if  it  is  a  group  ot 
does  of  which  you  are  speaking, 

CALL  IT  A  BEVY. 

They  also  formerly  spoke  of  a  sloth  of  bears 
and  a  singular  of  boars  and  sounder  of  wild  swine, 
but 


338  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

A  CROWD  OF  DOMESTIC  HOGS  WAS  CALLED  A  DRIFT. 

,We  now  speak  of  a  pack  of  wolves,  but  the  old 
hunters  called  it  a  route  of  wolves.  It  was  a  harass 
of  horses,  a  rag  of  colts  and  a  stud  of  mares,  a 
pace  of  asses,  and  a  bar  en  of  mules:  a  Hock  of 
sheep  is  the  term  formerly  applied  and  still  in  com- 
mon use,  but  it  was 

A  TRIBE  OF  GOATS. 

Very  properly  they  spoke  of  a  skulk  of  foxes, 
but  the  reason  is  less  obvious  for  a  cete  of  badgers, 
a  riches  of  martins,  a  fesymes  of  ferrets.  Now 
when  you  want  to  speak  of  a  great  congregation  of 
jack-rabbits,  call  it  a 

HUSK  OF  JACK-RABBITS, 

also  a  down  of  hares,  a  nest  of  cottontail.  If  you 
meet  a  group  of  wildcat  remember  to  say,  "I  met 
a  clowder  of  cats" :  but  if  you  find  they  are  young 
it  is  a  kennel  of  young. 

Should  you  be  traveling  in  the  tropics 

YOU  MAY  MEET  A  SHREWDNESS  OF  APES 

and  on  your  lawn  you  may  find  a  labor  of  moles. 

Two  greyhounds  are  called  a  brace,  three  a 
leash:  but  two  spaniels  or  harriers  are  called  a 
couple.  A  number  of  hounds  is  a  mute  of  hounds, 
but  when  you  speak  of  common  curs,  be  sure  to 
remember  and  call  them 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS          339 
A  COWARDESS  OF   CURS. 

In  olden  times  they  applied  these  sporting  terms 
in  derision  or  fun  to  people  and  spoke  of  a  skulk 
of  friars  and  a  skulk  of  thieves,  an  observance  of 
hermits,  a  lying  of  partners,  a  substitute  of  ser- 
geants and  what  might  apply  to  some  of  our  "400" 
a  multi-plying  of  husbands,  also 

A  BLAST  OF  HUNTERS, 

a  draft  of  butlers,  a  poverty  of  pipers,  etc.  But 
it  was  really  mean  when  they  spoke  of  a  "bunch" 
of  wives  as 

A  GAGGLE  OF  WOMEN, 

gaggle  being  the  term  used  for  a  group  of  geese. 

Speaking  of  water-fowl  reminds  me  that  it  was 
proper  to  call  a  group  of  herons  a  sedge.  This  also 
applied  to  bitterns,  but  when  it  came  to  swans  it 
was  a  herd:  it  was  also 

A  HERD  OF  CRANES  AND  OF  CURLEWS, 

and  duck  hunters  may  take  notice  that  •  when  a 
flock  of  shelldrakes  appear  they  must  by  no  means 
call  it  a  flock,  but  a  dropping  of  shelldrakes,  also 
a  spring  of  teals,  a  cover  of  coots,  a  gaggle  of 
geese,  and 

A  BADELING  OF  DUCKS. 

That  is,  when  there  is  a  group  of  various  or  un- 
known ducks  the  term  badeling  is  used,  and  when 
the  mallards  come,  speak  of  them  as  a  sord  or 


340  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

sute:  but  if  you  happen  to  be  in  India  hunting  pea- 
cocks and  run  across  a  flock,  by  no  means  speak  of 
it  as  a  flock,  but  call  it 

A  MUSTER  OF  PEACOCKS 

and  a  nye  of  pheasant.  At  home  it  is  a  congrega- 
tion of  plover,  a  flight  of  doves,  a  flight  of  swal- 
lows, a  dule  of  turtle-dove,  a  walk  of  snipe,  and 
a  fall  of  woodcock,  a  rookery  of  crows  and  a  building 
of  rooks,  a  murmur ation  of  starlings;  but  with 
domestic  fowl  it  is  a  brood  of  hens.  A  flock  of 
larks  is  poetically  spoken  of  as 

AN  EXALTATION  OF  LARKS, 

and  the  sparrows  very  properly  as  a  host  of  spar- 
rows. A  watch  of  nightingale,  is  also  significant 
in  its  meaning,  and  a  charm  of  gold  finches  is 
charming. 

I  trust  that  the  readers  will  no  longer  be  con- 
fused in  the  terms  they  use  for  the  different 
"bunches"  of  animals  and  game  they  meet;  please 
do  not  speak  of  an  afternoon  tea  as  a  gaggle  of 
women,  or  a  bunch  of  pretty  girls  as  a  badeling  of 
ducks. 

Few  sportsmen  of  today  are  familiar  with  these 
old  names,  but  everything  new  or  old  pertaining 
to  sport  is  interesting  because  sportsmen  them- 
selves are  interesting  people  and  real  sportsmen  are 
fine  fellows.  It  is  true  that  sportsmen  delight  in 
shooting  game  be  it  big  or  little,  but  they  also  be- 
lieve  in  preserving  the  game  of  the  country,  and 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS  341 

while  all  thinking  people  regret  the  wholesale 
slaughter  of  wild  creatures  by  gunners,  we  must 
remember  that  the  only  intelligent  efforts  to  pre- 
serve the  wild  life  of  this  country  are  to  be  found 
in  the  game  laws  suggested  and  enforced  by  sports- 
men. The  city-bred  men  of  the  Eastern  States 
are  sometimes  inclined  to  look  upon  the  Western 
hunters  as  brutal  fellows,  but  experienced  explorer? 
and  travelers  in  the  wilderness  will  tell  you  that  in 
respect  to  bloodthirstiness  and  brutality  in  the 
game  field  the  man  of  the  wilds  is 

OUTCLASSED  BY  THE   CITY  GUNNER. 

In  truth  the  city  man  and  the  Indian  equipped 
with  modern  firearms  "see  red"  when  in  a  good 
game  country;  and  they  never  take  the  trouble  to 
hunt  down  and  kill  the  wounded  and  paunched 
animal.  I  know  of  a  case  where  a  city  man  refused 
to  turn  over  two  shells  to  a  man  who  had  paunched 
a  mountain  ram.  In  this  case  the  animal  could 
have  been  put  out  of  pain  easily,  had  the  man  who 
shot  it  had  any  ammunition,  and  when  he  asked  for 
more  he  was  refused  for  no  reason  except  that  the 
city  man  did  not  fancy  returning  to  camp  with  an 
empty  gun.  Possibly  he  feared  some  fierce  marmot 
or  little  chief-hare  might  attack  him. 

A  REAL  MOUNTAIN  MAN, 

one  of  those  fellows  the  city  people  look  upon 
as  a  bloody  man,  will  often  follow  a  wounded  ani- 


342  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

mal  all  day  and  this  over  the  roughest  of  coun- 
try, in  the  worst  of  weather,  until  the  wounded 
creature  is  overtaken  and  put  out  of  its  misery. 
But  the  city  sportsman  and  the  childlike  Indian 
would  not  think  of  fasting  all  day  and  out  of  com- 
passion for  a  wounded  beast  sleeping  away  from 
camp  without  a  blanket.  The  most  chari- 
table way  to  think  is  probably  to  consider  both 
our  city  friend  and  the  Indian  as  children  with 
new  toys  in  their  hands. 

Mentioning  big  game  brings  to  mind  the  fact 
that  big  game  may  be  found  very  near  New  York 
City.  In  the  summer  of  1906  as  I  was  standing 
on  the  porch  of  my  log  house  preparing  to  retire 
for  the  night,  I  was  astonished  to  hear 


GAME  IN  SIGHT 
He    heard    footsteps    behind    him 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS  343 

THE  SCREAM  OF  A  PANTHER. 

Remember  that  Wild  Lands  is  only  one  hundred 
and  seventeen  miles  from  New  York  City,  and 
although  there  are  a  few  black  bear,  deer  and  wild- 
cats in  the  woods  surrounding  the  log  house,  I 
never  expected  to  see  or  hear  a  panther,  and 
doubted  the  accuracy  of  my  hearing;  but  Mrs. 
Beard  also  heard  the  woman-like  scream,  and  called 
to  me,  saying:  "Someone  has  upset  in  the  lake." 
The  next  day  I  quietly  made  some  investigation, 
and  discovered  that  a  large  animal  had  followed 
a  young  man  one  night  through  the  woods  from 
Wolf  Lake  almost  to  his  own  door;  also  that  as 
one  of  the  lumbermen  was  driving  his  best  girl 
home  from  a  dance  he  had  heard 

"A  LOST  WOMAN"  SCREAMING 

in  the  dark,  and  was  about  to  go  and  search  for 
the  wanderer  when  a  violent  thunderstorm  caused 
him  to  desist  and  take  his  lady-love  home,  also  that 
our  cook  who  had  attended  the  country  dance,  had 
heard  the  "lost  woman"  upon  several  occasions.  I 
further  learned  that  a  number  of  others  had  started 
out  to  succor  the  supposed  woman  whom  they 
thought  was  lost  in  the  woods  while  after  blue- 
berries. 

Next  I  discovered  that  Mr.  Elmer  Gregor  of 
the  Forest  Lake  Club  had  seen 

PANTHER  SIGNS 
on  the  road  to  Mast  Hope.     The  panther  had 


344 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


been  eating  rabbits  as  was  evident  from  their  re- 
mains. It  was  then  that  I  got  up  a  party  and  with 
a  good  'coon  dog,  we  hunted  the  woods  all  night 


LYNX  AND  PANTHER  SKETCHED  FROM  NATURE 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS  345 

for  the  beast,  but  without  results,  and  later  the 
groceryman  told  me  that  while  driving  in  the 
woods  about  dusk,  twenty-five  miles  from  Wild 
Lands,  he  had  met  a  panther  and,  shortly  after- 
wards, a  man  with  a  rifle  hunting  for  the  beast 
which 

HAD  BEEN  PROWLING  AROUND  THE  MAN'S  CABIN. 

Putting  all  this  together  and  also  the  fact  that 
I  am  not  unfamiliar  with  the  scream  of  the 
panther,  there  is  little  room  for  doubting  that  one 
of  these  creatures  was  roaming  the  woods  in  and 
around  Wild  Lands  for  several  weeks  before  it 
wandered  away. 

The  panther  is  very  prone  to  follow  a  person 
at  night  or  even  in  the  daytime  through  the  woods. 

YELLOWSTONE  KELLY 

was  followed  by  one  when  he  was  out  stalking 
antelope,  and  his  companion  who  was  behind  him 
shot  the  animal  and  scared  away  the  antelope. 
When  Kelly  asked  him  why  he  fired,  his  friend 
pointed  to  the  dead  beast  and  replied : 

UHE'S  BEEN  CREEPING  AFTER  YOU 

for  the  last  half  hour  and  I  thought  that  he  was 
getting  too  darned  near  for  safety,"  and  so  did 
Mr.  Kelly  when  he  saw  the  dead  panther  a  few 
feet  behind  him. 


346 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


A  panther  once  followed  my  grandfather  all 
night  through  the  woods,  and  I  used  to  make  my 
mother  tell  me  the  tale  over  and  over  again. 
Grandfather's  horse  went  "dead"  lame  and  he  had 
to  leave  it  and  walk.  Night  overtook  him  and  as 
he  was  tramping  through  the  dark  forest 
HE  HEARD  FOOTSTEPS  BEHIND  HIM. 

In  those  days  pelts  or  skins  of  animals  were 
used  for  money  and  as  this  sort  of  currency  was  too 
big  for  a  pocketbook,  it  was  carried  on  the  travel- 
er's back.  Grandfather  had 

A  PACK  OF  FRESH  SKINS  ON  HIS  BACK, 
and  possibly  the  smell  of  them  had  something  to 
do  with  the  footsteps  behind  him.    My !  how 


THE   KILLING 

Note    the    matter-of-fact   manner   of   the    big    cat    and   the    lack   of 
resistance   of  the  kid 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS  347 

MY  HAIR  USED  TO  STAND  ON  END 

when  we  came  to  the  part  of  the  story  where  the 
footfalls  would  stop  when  the  traveler  paused,  and 
begin  again  when  the  traveler  began  to  walk, 
quicken  with  the  quickened  step  of  the  traveler, 
and 

RUN  WHEN  THE  LONE  MAN  RAN. 

At  last,  when  grandfather  fell  down  a  gully,  I 
thought  the  beast  would  be  upon  his  shoulders, 
but  no — it  paused  on  the  edge  of  the  bank  and  he 
could  see  its 

EYE-BALL  GLEAM 

in  the  moonlight  which  streamed  through  the  open- 
ing in  the  woods  made  by  the  gully.  At  length  the 
traveler  .came  to  a  clearing  and  scaling  the  rail 
fence  he  hastened  to  a  log  cabin,  but 

IT  WAS  UNINHABITED! 

Climbing  to  the  roof  he  tore  off  some  of  the 
"shakes"  and  crawled  in  the  opening;  the  inside  was 
filled  with  flax,  so  burying  himself  in  the  flax  he 
opened  his  clasp  knife  and  awaited  the  enemy,  but 
the  animal  feared  to  approach  the  cabin  and  only 
made  known  its  presence  by 


348  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

A   SCREAM. 

The  sound  of  the  scream  was  a  great  comfort 
to  the  lone  traveler;  for  grandfather  was  unarmed, 
and  he  feared  it  was  a  hostile  Indian  whose  foot- 
steps he  had  heard,  but  he  knew  panthers  and  pre- 
ferred their  company  to  that  of  Indians,  so  mak- 
ing himself  comfortable  he  fell  asleep  and  did  not 
awaken  until  the  sun  was  shining  through  the  hole 
he  had  torn  in  the  roof. 

On  the  train  between  Slocan  and  Sandon  I  met 
Alex  McLeod  of  Answorth,  B.  C.,  a  prospector, 
and  the  hero  of  many  adventures.  His  arms  and 
neck  bear 

THE  SCARS  OF  A  GRIZZLY'S  TEETH 

received  one  day 
when  he  thought 
he  could  knock  a 
grizzly  out  with  a 
prospector's  pick. 
It  is  needless  to 
say  that  he  failed 
in  this  attempt 
and  only  escaped 
death  by  playing 

DEAD  MOUNTAIN  LION.  V)OSSUm. 

He  bought  a  new  pick,  but  he  now  carries  a 
gun  on  his  trips  and  this  has  proved  a  friend  in 
need.  Not  long  since  McLeod  and  his  "pard," 
a  man  named  Smith,  went  fishing  at  Coffee  Creek. 
Smith  was  armed  with  a  trout  rod  and  was  some 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS  349 

distance  in  advance  of  McLeod  when  the  latter 
heard  him  shouting  for  help.  Arriving  in  sight  of 
Smith,  McLeod  was  astonished  to  see  him 

FACING  A  BIG  MOUNTAIN  LION. 

The  cat  crouched  in  the  trail  about  fifteen  feet 
from  the  fisherman.  The  great  tail  of  the  beast 
was  slowly  swishing  from  side  to  side  as  he 
watched  with  interest,  but  no  alarm,  the  fisherman 
waving  his  switch-like  rod;  a  small  dog  with  its 
tail  between  its  legs  was  barking  dire  threats  at  the 
lion,  but  keeping  a  safe  distance  from  the  latter's 
jaws  and  claws,  when  McLeod  sent  a  bullet  from 
his  thirty-forty  and 

KILLED  THE  GREAT  CAT. 

It  weighed  250  pounds  and  was  a  monster  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  photograph 
given  to  me  by  the  prospector  himself  when  I  was 
up  in  his  country.  Mr.  McLeod  is  a  big  man, 
fully  six  feet  or  more  in  height. 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  big  cat  had  any 
intention  of  attacking  Smith,  but  an  unarmed 
man  does  not  enjoy  facing  such  a  beast  and  is  al- 
ways glad  to  have  it  shot.  The  little  dog  may  have 
aroused  the  lion,  and  as  these  beasts 

HAVE   NO   LOVE    FOR  DOGS 

it  was  probably  facing  the  barking  canine,  so  as 
not  to  be  attacked  in  the  rear. 


350  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

The  late  George  Stanley,  trapper,  of  McDonald 
Lake,  was  once  sitting  in  a  crouching  pose,  fishing 
through  the  ice  on  this  lake;  he  was  dressed  in 
buckskin  clothes  and  furs,  and  his  arm  was  mov- 
ing up  and  down  to  keep  the  baited  hook  bobbing ; 
his  six-shooter  lay  in  front  of  him  on  the  ice  ready 
for  any  emergency,  when  suddenly 

HE  FELT  A  HEAVY  ANIMAL  POUNCE  UPON 
HIS  BACK. 

Stanley  did  not  know  the  sort  of  animal  with 
which  he  had  to  deal,  but  he  did  know  that  it 
was  no  friend  of  his,  so  he  grabbed  his  gun  and 
placing  the  muzzle  over  his  shoulder  fired,  send- 
ing 

A  BULLET  CRASHING  THROUGH  THE  SKULL 

of  a  big  mountain  lion. 

The  animal  was  lean  and  hungry,  but  it  is  prob- 
able that  it  did  not  know  that  the  fur-clad  lump 
on  the  ice  was  a  man  :  the  cat  only  saw  some- 
thing out  on  the  ice  moving  and  so  it  crept  up  and 
leaped  upon  the  thing  as  a  domestic  cat  will 
do  upon  a  smaller  moving  object. 

THE  PIKE  COUNTY  PANTHER 

did  not  attack  the  fisherman  on  Wolf  Lake,  but 
followed  him.  The  Mississippi  panther  only  fol- 
lowed my  "grandfather  and  did  not  attack  him ;  the 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS          351 


"DON'T    INTERRUPT    MY    DINNER" 

panther  did  not  attack  Yellowstone  -Kelly,  but  fol- 
lowed him ;  neither  did  the  one  in  the  photograph 
attack  Smith. 

All  evidence  seems  to  point  to  the  fact  that 

PANTHERS    HAVE   A   WHOLESOME    FEAR   OF    MAN, 

but  I  do  not  think  that  it  would  be  safe  to  creep 
on  one's  hands  and  knees  under  a  limb  of  a  tree 
occupied  by  a  panther.  The  beast  under  such  cir- 
cumstances might  jump  upon  the  moving  object  as 
it  did  upon  Stanley,  and  after  it  was  on  one's  back 
it  would  probably  fight  from  fear  and  embarrass- 
ment. 

In  the  days  before  Nature  photographs  filled  all 
our  magazines  with  beautiful  half-tones  of  every 
living  creature,  and  writers  wrote  of  some  that 


352          DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

never  lived,  in  the  days  when  the  illustrators  made 
their  drawings  upon  boxwood  for  the  wood  en- 
graver, I  used  to  frequent  the  docks  to  watch  for  in- 
coming ships  from  the  tropics  manned  by  piratical 
garbed  foreign  sailors  and  hearing  strange  freight 

SHIPS  WITH   QUEER  BIRDS  AND  ANIMALS   IN  THE 
RIGGINGS 

and  on  the  decks.  The  Fulton  Market  was  also  a 
favorite  hunting  ground  for  rare  fish,  and  the 
uwild  animal  stores,"  on  the  lower  East  Side,  for 
objects  of  interest.  There  was  one  of  these  shops 
on  Park  Row;  it  was  an  unobtrusive  little  store 
filled  with  cages  of  noisy  birds — but  the  back  door 
opened  into  a  good-sized  wareroom  and  within 

IT  WAS  A  MENAGERIE  OF  ALL  SORTS  OF  ANIMALS 

from  an  elephant  down  to  a  kangaroo  rat. 

As  I  passed  the  monkey  cages,  I  shook  my  fist 
at  a  blue-cheeked  specimen  of  a  mandrill  baboon 
and  told  him  things  of  an  highly  insulting  nature 
about  his  personal  appearance.  A  baboon  is  as 
quick  to  resent  an  insult  as  is  any  Southern  colonel, 
and  Bluecheeks  flew  at  the  bars  in  his  cage, 

AND  SHOOK  THEM  WITH  RAGE. 

This  was  just  what  I  expected,  so  in  a  spirit  of 
mischief  I  stopped  to  make  more  uncomplimentary 
remarks. 

My  portfolio  was  under  one  arm:  I  had  taken 
off  my  overcoat  and  thrown  it  over  the  other 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS      353 

arm.  Mr.  Bluecheeks  grabbed  the  bars  with  his 
two  hands,  looked  me  straight  in  the  eyes,  showed 
his  teeth,  and  jabbered  at  me,  thus  keeping  my  at- 
tention upon  his  face  while 

HE  SLYLY  REACHED  OUT  ONE   LEG 

and  grasped  my  overcoat  with  his  hand-like  foot. 
The  first  I  knew  of  his  intentions  was  when  my 
overcoat  was  unceremoniously  pulled  from  my  arm. 
Back  of  me  there  was  a  dry  goods  box  or  pack- 
ing case,  the  boards  of  which  were  all  loose,  and 
the  nails  partly  or  wholly  shaken  from  the  wood 
so  that  the  sides  would  have  fallen  out  had  they 
not  been  held  in  place  by  a  clothesline  bound 
about  and  knotted  over  the  box.  It  was  a  large 
packing  case  larger  than  a  table,  and  realizing  that 
if  the  baboon  once  drew  my  overcoat  through  the 
bars  of  its  cage  it  would  be  of  no  further  use  to 
me,  I  threw  my  portfolio  on  the  packing  case,  so 
that  I  might  use  both  hands  to  rescue  the  coat 
from 

MY  FOUR-HANDED  OPPONENT. 

After  a  struggle  of  five  or  more  minutes  I  was 
successful  in  not  only  gaining  my  coat  but  also  in 
arousing  to  the  highest  degree  of  excitement  all 
the  other  animals  in  the  wareroom. 

They  had  been  interested  spectators  and,  when 
the  struggle  for  the  possession  of  the  coat  was  at 
its  height,  one  and  all  in  the  room 


354          DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

SIGNIFIED   THEIR   DESIRE   TO   TAKE   PART   IN   THE 
FIGHT. 

I  was  alone  in  this  room  with  the  assembled 
jungle-folks  and  would  have  been  dealt  with  se- 
verely by  my  four-footed  relatives  had  their  bars 
and  chains  allowed  them  to  reach  me.  After  fan- 
ning myself  with  my  hat,  wiping  the  perspiration 
from  my  face  and  neck,  and  smoothing  the  wrinkles 
from  my  coat,  I  approached  the  packing  box  to 
secure  my  portfolio,  but  as  soon  as  I  came  near 
the  box  the  top  and  sides 

MOVED  IN  A   MOST  ASTONISHING   MANNER 

the  whole  box  bounced  up  and  down,   and  from 
the  interior  came  the  most 

BLOOD-CURDLING    GROWLS,    SNARLS,    AND    YOWLS. 

If  this  itself  had  not  been  enough  to  alarm  me 
the  sight  of  the  hooked  claws  of  some  beast  tear- 
ing splinters  from  the  edge  of  the  boards  where  the 
sides  were  parted  would  most  assuredly  have  been 
sufficient  cause  for  fright;  but  after  my  first  alarm 
I  decided  that  I  must  have  my  portfolio,  and  at- 
tempted to  steal  around  to  the  other  side  of  the 
box,  walking  on  my  toes  so  as  not  to  make  any 
noise  and  using  every  precaution  to  prevent  at- 
tracting attention  to  myself.  It  was  in  vain,  how- 
ever, it  seemed  as  if 

THE  THING  INSIDE  THE  BOX 

was  all  eyes  and  could  see  through  the  boards, 


SPORTING  TERMS  AND  BIG  CATS      355 

and  no  matter  from  what  direction  I  approached 
its  prison,  the  box  would  be  vibrating  before  I 
could  reach  my  portfolio  and  the  thumping  and 
yowling  from  the  inside  would  begin  over  again. 
Growing  desperate  I  made  a  bold  rush,  grabbed 
my  property  and  retreated.  Then  as  my  time  was 
short,  I  went  over  to  where  the  baby  hippopotami 
were  enclosed  in  a  rude  pen.  I  finished  my  sketches 
and  going  through  the  store  to  the  street,  stopped 
at  the  desk  to  thank  the  proprietor  for  his  courtesy 
in  granting  me  the  privileges  of  his  shop. 

"By  the  way,"  said  I.  "What  have  you  got  in 
that  packing  case  back  there?" 

"Dot  backing  case?  Vot  backing  case  you 
mean?" 

"The  one  with  the  rope  on." 

"Dot  backing  case !  Py  golly  you  must  not 
cro  near  dot  case.  It  may  get  loose  once." 

"What  may  get  loose?" 

"DOT  LIVER  PAD." 

"Liver  pad?"  I  exclaimed. 

"Yes,  dot  liver  pad  vot  vas  in  dot  box  tied  mit 
dat  rope.  Dot  vas  a  vild  liver  pad.  He  vas  very 
dangerous,  yes." 

None  the  wiser  for  all  my  friend's  remarks  I 
bowed  and  hurried  back  to  my  studio.  I  knew 
that  the  thing  was  dangerous,  and  the  box  insecure, 
but  in  all  my  travels  and  in  all  my  visits  to 
museums,  circuses  and  wild  animal  stores,  I  have 
never  seen  a 


356          DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 
WILD  LIVER  PAD, 

yet  it  was  evident  that  the  man  was  not  joking,  but 
quite  serious  in  what  he  said. 

Not  until  years  afterwards  when  I  heard  a  Ger- 
man prince  describe  an  adventure  that  he  had  with 
a  "liver  pad"  in  Africa  did  it  dawn  upon  me  that 
this  was  the  German  way  of  pronouncing  the  Eng- 
lish word  leopard. 

With  my  present  mature  experience,  and  ripened 
wisdom,  if  my  portfolio  should  again  be  placed 
on  a  box  of  wild  liver  pads,  I  would  either  leave 
it  there,  or  from  some  position  of  safety  fish  for 
it  with  hook  and  line. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES 

A   FISH   OF   SIN-YALE-A-MIN    LAKE A   SPOT    UNCONTAMI- 

NATED    BY   MAN CATCHING    BIG   FISH    WITH    A    FLY 

A    FIERCE   RUSH    OF   A   BLACK   SPECKLED   TROUT 

DOLLY    VARDEN    TROUT STANLEY,    THE    MOUNTAIN 

MAN   AND   THE    LITTLE    MINISTER CATCHING   BULL 

TROUT  IN  MACDONALD  RIVER HE  DIDN'T  HOLD  HIS 

MOUTH    RIGHT FISHING    FOR    A    BIG    FISH    IN    NEW 

YORK  CITY THE   FISH   CAUSED  GREAT  HILARITY A 

POLL   PARROT   FISH    BUT  IT  COULD   NOT  TALK. 

BEAUTIFUL   LONG-TAILED  MAGPIES 

with  burnished  iridescent  and  piebald  plumage 
fly  around  our  cayuse  team;  at  Selish  the  birds  are 
as  tame  as  the  dirty,  noisy  English  sparrows  of 
New  York  City.  Selish  is  a  little  station  on  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad  in  the  Flathead  Indian 
Reservation;  the  station  is  close  to  the  shore  of  the 
Jocko  and  backed  up  against  a  big  butte  of  the 
color  and  texture  of  the  army  officers'  khaki  uni- 
form. There  is  a  stony  road  which  winds  around 
the  steep  sides  of  the  butte  until  it  finds  a  passage 
up  the  rugged  course  of  a  torrent-worn  gully,  to 
the  dry,  hot  elevated  prairie  north  of  the  station. 
On  the  same  elevated  plain  a  few  miles  further 
north  and  close  by  the  foot  of  Saddle  Butte,  about 

357 


358          DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

THREE  HUNDRED  BUFFALO 

then  roamed  free  on  their  ancient  pasture  lands. 
The  Flathead  prairie  is  thirty  odd  miles  long,  by 
fifteen  or  twenty  wide,  and  is  bounded  on  the  south 
by  the  drab-colored  buttes,  on  the  east  by  the  Mis- 
sion Range  and  on  the  west  by  the  deep  canyon 
through  which  the  turquoise  water  of  the  Pen  d' 
Oreille  splashes  and  dashes,  churning  itself  into 
suds,  as  it  roars  over  the  rapids  and  falls ;  fretting 
itself  into  foam-capped  waves  as  it  chafes  against 
the  rock-ribbed  shore ;  whispering  awesome  threats 
as  it  glides  into  the  deep,  dark  mysterious  pools 
where  the  currents  twist  the  floating  suds  into  a 
decorative  pattern  of  great  whorls  and  spirals. 

From  their  sources  in  the  glacial  lakes  where 
they  are  cradled  mid  the  mountain  peaks,  several 
trout  streams  of  clear,  cold  water  cross  the  Flat- 
head  prairie  hurrying  on  to  join  the  Pen  d'  Oreille; 
there  are  also  occasionally  muddy  pools  inhabited  by 

STUPID  SPOTTED  FROGS 

and  other  ponds  whose  snow-white  edges  tell  of 
alkali  deposits  and  scab  lands.  Along  the  edges 
of  the  different  waters 

KILLDEAR,  SPOTTED  SAND  PIPERS, 

solitary  sand  pipers,  yellow  legs,  greater  yellow 
legs,  long-billed 

CURLEWS  AND  JACK-SNIPE 

wade  in  happy  security. 

Scattered  over  the  prairie  are  bunches  of  half 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES      359 

wild  cattle  and  horses  and  in  the  vibrating  heat 
over  their  backs  sail  the  hawks,  great  and  small; 
these  birds  seem  to  be  omnipresent  on  all  the  West- 
ern plains  where  they  have  an  inexhaustible  supply 
of  small  mammals  on  which  to  prey.  Now  and 
then  an  old  hen  grouse  with  a  brood  of  fuzzy  lit- 
tle chicks  gives  a  warning  call  and  the  young  birds 
scatter  and  hide  their  dust-colored  bodies  on  the 
dust-colored  ground. 

Occasionally  the  long,  graceful  form  of 

A  HARMLESS  SNAKE, 

with  its  pretty  yellow  stripes,  may  be  seen  gliding 
out  of  our  way,  and  myriads  of 

FAT  GIANT  CRICKETS, 

as  big  as  the  brown  wood  frogs  of  New  York, 
hop  clumsily  out  of  the  horses'  tracks,  scolding  as 
they  go.  Everything  is  novel  and  strange  to  a 
tenderfoot  from  the  East;  yet  many  things  bear 
a  recognizable  relationship  to  objects  at  home. 

THE  MEADOW  LARKS 

look  like  ours  and  one  hearing  them  for  the  first 
time  would  immediately  pronounce  the  notes  to  be 
those  of  a  meadow  lark.  Nevertheless  the  West- 
ern bird's  voice  is  much  rounder  and  more  flute- 
like  in  tone. 

THE  SONG  SPARROW'S  DITTY 

seems  to  be  the  same,  even  though  the  bird  itself 
may  differ  from  its  Eastern  brothers,  but  there  is 
nothing  familiar,  to  the  tenderfoot  fresh  from  the 


360  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

\\ 
,  ^ 


FLATHEAD   PRAIRIE    CRICKET    EATING  CASTOFF    CIGAR 

effete  civilization  of  the  East,  in  the  appearance  of 
the  quaint  settlement  at  the  Mission  of  St.  Ig- 
natius. Utterly  oblivious  to  the  fact  that  the  creak- 
ing wagons  contain  white  men,  the  bloody  enemies 
of  all  living  things, 

PLOVER  AND  SNIPE 

run  under  the  noses  of  the  horses  as  they  splash 
through  the  cold  shallow  stream  crossing  the  road 
at  the  Mission.  Around  the  Indian  graveyard, 
church,  and  schools,  is  a  cluster  of  low,  log  houses 
interspersed  with  frame  ones  of  more  pre- 
tentious aspect ;  the  latter  are  the  homes  of  French 
traders.  Rising  abruptly  from  the  prairie  back 
of  the  little  village  the  Mission  Range  rears  its 
ragged  snow-covered  crest  to  an  altitude  of  10,000 
feet. 

Down  the  precipitous  sides  of  the  mountain, 
back  of  the  little  church,  dash  the  waters  from 
the  fields  of  snow;  in  its  wild  plunge  the  crystal 
fluid  is  resolved  into  white  foam  and  mist,  making 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         361 

an  irregular  streak  which  might  easily  be  mistaken 
for  a  perpendicular  band  of  snow,  all  of  which 
make  a  most  charming  scene  and  one  which  ap- 
pears more  like  a  picture  evolved  from  some 
dreamy  artist's  brain  than  a  real  landscape. 

COWBOY  "BREEDS" 

in  leather  chaps  ornamented  with  fringe  and  in- 
serts or  checkers  of  red  cloth,  walk  awkwardly 
about,  cowboy  fashion,  proud  of  their  brilliant  red 
handkerchiefs  which  are  knotted  about  their 
swarthy  necks  and  of  the  beautiful  buckskin  cuffs 
and  hat  bands  incrusted  with  patterns  of  stained 
porcupine  quills. 

OLD    INDIANS 

with  long  iron-gray  hair  falling  on  their  shoulders 
from  beneath  the  broad  brims  of  their  drab  quaker 
hats,  talk  together  in  guttural  grunts.  Prone  on 
the  ground,  in  the  shade  of  the  trading  store,  re- 
cline young  Indian  bucks  in  picturesque  blanket 
leggings,  blanket  wraps  and  beaded  moccasins, 
their  glossy  black  hair  hanging  in  braids  in  front 
of  their  shoulders  and  terminating  in  bunches  of 
red  flannel. 

SIN-YALE-A-MIN 

is  3,900  feet  above  the  sea;  it  is  a  beautiful  and 
romantic  little  lake  which  occupies  a  valley  in  the 
Mission  Range  and  this  was  our  destination;  but 


362  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


SIN-YALE-A-MIN 
Biological    Camp    at    extreme   left 

time  is  of  little  importance  to  the  "butter-chinned 
priests,"  and  "Breeds,"  traders,  "Injuns,"  and 
squaw-men  of  the  Mission,  and  it  was  late  ere  we 
got  a  start.  Before  we  had  reached  the  foot  of 
the  mountain  the  king-bolt  in  the  light  wagon 
broke  and  wrecked  the  vehicle  so  that  the  ladies 
were  forced  to  alight  and  we  harnessed  their  team 
as  leaders  ahead  of  the  cayuses  attached  to  the  dun- 
nage wagon.  Most  of  the  party  preferred  walking 
to  hanging  on  top  of  the  rolls  of  tents  aboard  the 
jolting  baggage-wagon.  It  was  almost  dusk  when 
we  entered 

THE  MYSTERIOUS  WOODS 

at  the  foot  of  the  mountains.  The  rude  trail  led 
up  over  corduroy  bridges  which  were  half  washed 
away,  under  tall,  ghostly  dead  trees  whose  lofty 
tops  seemed  to  pierce  the  clouds.  Climbing,  ever 
climbing  with  the  voices  of  the  waters  always 
within  hearing,  now  gurgling,  now  babbling  for 
all  the  world  like  the  sound  of  the  many  voices 
of  a  gay  picnic  party  in  the  woods. 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         363 

When  the  glint  of  water  through  the  trees  an- 
nounced the  end  of  our  journey  it  was  I  A.  M., 
and  although  it  was  beginning  to  rain,  we  tarried 
not  to  pitch  tents,  but  pumping  up  our  air  mat- 
tresses and  unrolling  our  sleeping  bags  we  crawled 
into  the  latter  and  fell  asleep  while  the  rain  was  pat- 
tering on  the  canvas  flaps  over  our  faces. 

I  was  awakened  the  next  morning  by  the  long 
drawn  out  call  of  the  cook  of  the  biological  camp 
on  the  lake  shore 

RO — LL L — L — L OUT!      R OLL OUT! 

ROLL  OUT ! 

Young  Kendricks,  a  boy  of  twelve,  was  still 
sleeping  on  a  cowboy's  bed-roll  near  me,  his  body 
uncovered  and  his  drowsy  young  head  resting  on 
his  arm ;  the  rays  of  the  morning  sun  were  shining 
through  his  hair,  making  a  halo  around  his  youth- 
ful face  and 

ON  HIS  CHEST  WAS  PERCHED  A  MOUNTAIN  WREN; 

„  the  little  bird  had 
its  head  cocked  to 
one  side  and  was 
saying  things  to 
itself  in  a  pert 
wren-like  manner, 
as  it  examined  the 
sleeping  child. 

With   the  true 
hospitality  of  the 

OUTLET  OF  KOOTENAY  LAKE.      West  ^  ^^ 

cal  people  came  into  our  camp  with  a  pressing 


364  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

invitation  to  breakfast  with  them,  which  we 
promptly  accepted  and  did  ample  justice  to  our 
first  meal  on  the  shores  of  Sin-yale-a-min. 

It  was  the  search  for  real  wild  and  woolly  trout, 
trout  which  know  not  the  price  or  names  of  the 
feathered  lures  in  one's  fly-book;  it  was  the  search 
for  the  aboriginal  fish  of  the  West,  which  landed 
us  at  Sin-yale-a-min,  3,900  feet  above  the  sea;  it 
is  a  lovely,  romantic  little  lake  that  occupies  a  de- 
pression in  the  Mission  Range. 

It  was 

A  TWO-MILE  PULL 

to  the  head  of  the  greenish-blue-colored  glacial  Sin- 
yale-a-min  Lake — two  miles  in  the  Oregon  a 
clumsy,  heavy  skiff  of 

"INJUN"  BUILD; 

two  miles  with  one  long,  roughly  hewn  oar  and  one 
short,  bark-covered  stick  with  a  pine  "shake"  nailed 
to  one  end  for  an  oar  blade.  But  I  bent  cheer- 
fully to  my  task,  for  the  waters  were  virgin  waters 
as  far  as  fly-fishing  was  concerned.  On  all  sides 
of  the  lake  rise  the  mountains  whose  rounded  forms 
show  the  grinding  and  smoothing  effects  of  ice. 
Great  swathes  have  been  cut  through  the  trees  by 
terrific  avalanches.  A  grand  forest  of  white  cedar 
(arbor  vitae)  trees  of  gigantic  proportions  covers 
the  rocky  shores  of  the  Sin-yale-a-min  Creek,  rear- 
ing their  stately  heads  to  dizzy  heights ;  the  irregu- 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         365 

larities  of  the  ground  cause  the  fallen  trees  to  rest 
at  all  angles,  and  the  density  of  the  foliage  over- 
head makes  twilight  at  midday.  This,  with  the 
dashing  waters  and  the  thick  beds  of  moss,  pro- 
duces a  weird  effect  in  the  wild  gorge  through 
which  the  creek  flows. 
At  last  we  had  found 

A  SPOT  UNCONTAMINATED  BY  MAN, 

and  more  beautiful  than  any  of  his  clumsy  attempts 
at  landscape-gardening.  About  a  half  mile  back 
from  the  lake,  the  stream  is  a  succession  of  falls 
whose  source  is  concealed  by  the  thick  foliage,  pro- 
ducing a  unique  effect;  it  looks  as  if  the  water  was 
pouring  down  from  the  sky  itself.  The  lichens  and 
moss  grow  with  a  luxuriance  I  never  saw  elsewhere. 
In  the  lake  and  at  right  angles  to  the  mouth  of  this 
stream  a  dead  and  denuded  arbor  vitae  is  lodged 
on  the  submerged  delta,  and  although  the  water 
of  the  creek  could  flow  under  the  log,  for  rea- 
sons of  its  own  it  deflects  and  flows  parallel  with 
the  tree.  Making  the  Oregon  fast  with  a  withe 
and  a  stone,  I  waded  out  to  the  log  and  cast  my 
flies  down  the  current  to  a  point  where  the  small 
end  of  the  giant  timber  was  sunk  in  the  deep  and 
blue  waters  of  the  lake. 

AS  SOON  AS  MY  FLIES  SETTLED, 

I  had  a  double  strike,  and  landed  a  couple  of  ten 
or  twTelve-inch  rainbow  trout,  but  their  size  some- 


366  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

what  disappointed  me.  Although  we  had  canned 
goods  galore  at  the  camp,  I  thought  these  cold- 
bodied,  pink-fleshed  fish  would  be  a  welcome  addi- 
tion to  our  menu,  and  so  I  made  another  and 
another  cast,  and  soon  had  such  a  fine  string  of 
fish  that  I  became  more  particular  as  to  the  length 
of  the  trout  hooked. 

Acting  on  this  principle,  the  next  time  I  found 
a  ten-inch  trout  was  hooked,  I  steered  the  fighting 
fish  right  into  the  swiftest  waters  to  give  it  a  chance 
to  break  loose,  and  save  a  lazy  man  the  trouble 
of  unhooking  it. 

THERE  WAS  A  MIGHTY  SPLASH 

and  my  trout  disappeared,  while  the  line  started  di- 
rectly out  to  sea.  In  my  utter  astonishment  I 
allowed  the  line-  to  run,  and  it  was  not  until  two 
hundred  feet  of  braided  oil  silk  had  unwound  from 
the  clicking  reel  that  there  was  a  pause.  It  was 
the  fiercest  onslaught  I  had  ever  experienced  in 
many  years  of  angling.  The  rush  of  my  trout 
had  in  it  all  of  the  impetuosity  and  savageness  of 
a  tiger  springing  upon  its  prey.  This  was  the  first 
time  I  had  ever  wet  a  line  in  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  I  had  no  idea  what  sort  of  fish  now  had  my 
hook,  but  I  did  know  that  a  ten-inch  trout  is  a 
good-sized  mouthful  for  even 

A  VERY  LARGE  FISH, 
so  I  stood  in  that  ice  water  unmindful  of  the  deadly 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         367 

numbness  of  my  legs,  and  waited  to  give  the 
creature  time  to  gorge  the  bait.  The  fish  was  a 
primitive  savage,  and  clinging  manfully  to  the  ten- 
inch  trout,  had  run  two  hundred  feet  of  line  off 
a  clicking  reel  without  apparently  noticing  the  snub- 
bing resistance  of  the  silk.  It  was  very  exciting, 
but  I  was  cool  enough  to  give  the  creature  time 
after  the  rush.  Presently,  the  line  began  to  move 
slowly  about,  and  I  judged 

THE  MOMENT  HAD  ARRIVED 

for  me  to  strike,  and  carefully  and  slowly  I  reeled 
in  the  slack  until  I  could  "feel"  the  fish.  Then, 
with  a  quick  movement  of  the  wrist,  I  struck  the 
barbed  hook  into  its  mouth.  It  is  no  simple  thing 
to  strike  a  fish  successfully  with  a  light  fly  rod 
and  two  hundred  feet  of  line  deep  down  in  the  blue 
water,  but  there  was  no  doubt  of  the  success  of 
my  efforts,  for  the  fish 

"PUT  UP"  A  WILD  AND  CRAZY  FIGHT, 

using  neither  the  craft  of  a  bass  nor  the  judgment 
of  a  brook  trout.  But  it  had  the  impetuosity  and 
fierceness  of  both  combined,  and  soon  ran  out  all 
but  a  round  or  two  of  my  line,  and  I  thought  that 
I  should  lose  him,  for  I  doubted  the  power  of  my 
tackle  to  withstand  the  force  of  a  direct  pull.  Luck 
was  with  me,  however,  for  the  next  rush  was  to- 
ward the  shore,  giving  me  the  hoped-for  oppor- 
tunity to  reel  in  some  line  and  also  a  chance  to  run 


368 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


to  the  beach  and  pick  up  my  landing-net,  which  I 
had  not  found  necessary  for  the  small  trout. 

UP  AND  DOWN,  OUT  AND  IN, 

my  fish  rushed,  and  then  sulked  in  a  most  grievous 
manner.  I  reeled  in  slowly  until  I  could  see  the 
dark  back  and  slowly  moving  tail;  carefully  I 
steered  the  fish  to  the  net,  slipped  the  latter  under 
it,  and  lifted  a  great  black  spotted  trout  from  the 
water,  the  fish  making  a  last,  mighty  struggle  in  the 
net. 

It  was  not  until  the  excitement  was  over  that  I 
realized  that  there  was  no  more  sensation  in  my 
legs  than  in  a  block  of  ice,  and  I  scrambled  out 


BREAKING  CAMP  ON  THE  FLATHEAD  PRAIRIE 

of  the  frigid  water  and  sat  on  the  shore  until  a 
vigorous  rubbing  and  the  warm  sun's  rays  had 
brought  back  life  to  my  chilled  limbs.  Measuring 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         369 

from  the  tips  of  my  fingers  to  the  wrinkles  in  my 
coat  sleeve  at  the  shoulder,  my  first  black  spotted 

TROUT  WAS  THE  LENGTH  OF  MY  ARM, 

though  not  a  very  large  specimen  of  this  kind  of 
fish.  Under  favorable  conditions,  I  am  told  that 
this  kind  of  trout  often  reaches  the  weight  of 
thirty  pounds ;  but  for  exciting  fun  and  fierce  fight- 
ing qualities  I  recommend  the  smaller  fish;  the 
larger  ones  would  no  doubt  smash  your  tackle,  and 
your  landing  net  would  not  hold  the  monsters. 

Live  bait  at  Sin-yale-a-min  was  apparently  un- 
attainable. There  are  no  frogs  in  this  high  alti- 
tude, and  minnow-nets  were  not  part  of  the  outfit, 
so  it  was  known  that  I  left  camp  with  nothing  but 
a  book  of  artificial  flies,  and  the  rumor  went  abroad 
that  my  fish  was  caught  with  a  fly,  and  the  next 
arrival  at  camp  greeted  me  with,  "Hello!  I  con- 
gratulate you !  Understand  you  are  doing  some 
great  fly-fishing.  What  makes  me  think  so  ?  Heard 
them  talking  about  it  down  at  the  Mission." 

The  following  day  I  initiated  the  speaker  into 
the  secret  art  of  hooking  two  fish  on  one  fly,  and 
we  captured 

A    BIG   DOLLY    VARDEN   TROUT, 

known  in  Montana  as  bull  trout.  But  it  did  not 
make  as  game  a  fight  as  its  black-spotted  relative, 
?nd  after  its  first  mad  bull-like  rush  it  threw  up  its 
hands,  so  to  speak,  and  came  to  the  net  like  a 
stick.  In  its  first  rush,  this  red  spotted  "bull" 
wound  the  line  round  and  round  a  sunken  bush, 


370  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

but  my  companion  unwound  the  line  with  skill  and 
patience,  during  which  process  the  great  trout  could 
be  distinctly  seen  swimming  slowly  about  unmind- 
ful of  the  hook  in  its  jaw.  Since  then  I  have 
caught  larger  fish  and  had  many  an  exhilarating 
fight  with  the  speckled  beauties  of  the  Selkirk, 
Rocky,  and  Cascade  Mountains,  and  the  far  North- 
ern waters  in  the  wilderness  northwest  of  Lake  St. 
John  in  Canada ;  but  the  memory  of  none  of  them 
affords  such  exquisite  pleasure  as  the  recollection 
of  my  first  black  spotted  trout  taken  from  the 
waters  of  Sin-yale-a-min  in  the  snow-capped  Mis- 
sion Range. 

HE  DIDN'T  HOLD  HIS  MOUTH  RIGHT — A  FISHING 
INCIDENT  IN  THE  ROCKIES. 

The  "sky-pilot"  stood,  in  a  St.  Lawrence  row- 
boat,  awkwardly  balancing  himself  with  one  gyrat- 
ing arm. 

The  parson's  boat  was  anchored  where  the 
swiftly  rushing  waters  of  a  mountain  torrent  made 
countless  eddies  and  a  miniature  whirlpool  as  it 
forced  its  way  into  the  greenish-blue  waters  of 
Lake  McDonald. 

"Good-morning,  Mr.  Stanley!"  exclaimed  the 
sky-pilot,  addressing  my  guide.  "Can  you  tell  me, 
my  good  man,  why  these 

AGGRAVATING   JUMPING   PHILISTINES 
refuse  my  lures?" 

"You  don't  hold  your  mouth  right,  sir,"  replied 
Stanley,  in  a  mock-deferential  tone. 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         371 

"My  mouth?"  screamed  the  little  dominie. 
"What  in  the  name  of — of — er — common  sense 
has  that  to  do  with  fishing?"  But  the  backwoods- 
man deigned  no  reply. 

It  would  be  difficult  for  me  to  explain  exactly 
what  Stanley  meant  by  his  sarcastic  remark;  but 
it  was  plain  to  see  that  the  buckskin  man  did  not 
approve  of  the  sky-pilot's  "get  up." 

On  a  bunch  of  grass  in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe 
lay 

A  FEW  TWELVE-INCH  TROUT, 

the  result  of  some  random  casting  during  the 
progress  of  our  journey  up  the  lake  to  the  river's 
mouth.  Our  catch  was  by  no  means  great  enough 
to  permit  of  boasting  on  our  part,  and  after  Stan- 
ley's ungracious  reply  to  the  little  minister  I  felt 
that  we  must  sustain  our  assumed  superiority  at  all 
hazards. 

"SURE,  IT'S  UP  AGIN'  us 

to  show  fish;  but  we'll  get  'em  all  right,  or  my 
name  is  not  George  Stanley.  Unhitch  that  leader 
and  string  o'  flies,  and  drop  'em  in  the  water  in  the 
bottom  of  the  canoe  to  soak  awhile,"  said  the  back- 
woodsman. "There,  that's  the  ticket!  Now  I'll 
show  you  a  trick  that'll  open  that  gospel-sharp's 
eyes,"  continued  the  mountain  man  as  he  produced 
a  stiff  piece  of  wire  from  some  mysterious  source, 
and  using  one  of  the  boulders  for  an  anvil  and  a 


372 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


STANLEY,  THE   AUTHOR  AND  A  STRING  OF  TROUT 

small  stone  for  a  hammer,  proceeded  to  make  a 
couple  of  circular  loops  in  its  otherwise  straight 
length. 

In  a  surprisingly  short  time  Stanley  finished  his 
contrivance  and  had  one  of  our  twelve-inch  trout 
strung  on  the  wire.  The  loops  in  the  iron  prevented 
the  trout  from  sliding  up  to  line  or  doubling  up 
on  the  wire. 

A  GANG  OF  HOOKS 

was  attached  to  the    end    protruding    from    the 
mouth  of  the  trout,  and  another  gang  to  the  end 
protruding  from  the  tail  of  the  fish.     A  swivel 
from  a  spoon-hook  prevented  the  line  twisting. 
I  have*  used  all  sort  of  artificial  lures  and  flies, 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         373 

have  fished  with  angle-worms,  grubs,  helgramites, 
crawfish,  frogs,  and  minnows,  alive  and  dead,  but 
never  before  did  I  use  twelve-inch  trout  for  bait. 

Scarcely  had  my  guide  paddled  our  canoe  into 
the  rapids  before  I  felt  a  mighty  strain  on  my 
line.  "Hold  on  a  minute,  Stanley;  my  hooks  are 
fast  to  the  bottom!"  I  cried. 

"WULL,  PULL  THE  BOTTOM  ABOARD, 

then,"  was  the  complacent  reply  I  received.  But 
now  my  line  was  crossing  the  stream  at  right  angles, 
and  my  reel  was  singing  like  an  August  cicada  in 
a  phoebe-bird's  mouth,  and  I  knew  that  even  the 
bottom  of  an  eccentric  Rocky  Mountain  stream 
could  not  yank  a  line  around  like  that;  my  poor 
little  fly-rod  was  bending  like  a  rib  of  a  seventy- 
five-cent  umbrella  in  a  gale. 

"Don't  paddle  so  blamed  fast!"  I  shouted.  But 
Stanley  knew  his  business;  the  canoe  was  almost 
stationary,  and  it  was  only  the  swiftly  flowing  water 
which  gave  the  appearance  of  speed  to  the  craft, 
and  deceived  me  into  thinking  that  the  canoe  was 
rapidly  traveling  up-stream.  To  tell  the  truth,  I 
had  not  had  much  confidence  in  my  guide's  plans, 
and  the  strike  took  me  so  completely  by  surprise 
that  it  is  a  wonder  that 

I  HOOKED  THE  FISH. 

But  after  the  first  shock  of  astonishment  was  over 
I  entered  the  fight  with  my  frame  thrilling  with  the 


374  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

delicious  joy  of  that  subdued  excitement  which  all 
anglers  know  and  appreciate,  and  for  the  sake  of 
which  they  willingly  undergo  suffering,  hardships, 
and  peril. 

In  due  time  Stanley  was  dexterously  sliding  the 
landing-net  under  the  exhausted  fish  as  it  floated 
alongside  of  the  canoe. 

uGood  boy! 

YER  HELD  YER  MOUTH  JIST  RIGHT 

that  time!"  cried  the  mountain  man  as  he  tri- 
umphantly held  the  big  red-spotted  Dolly  Varden 
trout  aloft,  to  gaze  upon  before  consigning  it  .to 
the  bottom  of  the  boat. 

"Hold  out  your  hand,"  commanded  my  guide, 
and  when  he  observed  that  my  fingers  trembled, 
notwithstanding  the  most  strenuous  effort  on  my 
part  to  hold  them  steady,  he  smiled  approvingly, 
and  remarked,  "I  wouldn't  fish  with  a  man  who 
could  land  a  big  un  an'  not  have  palsy  when  'twas 
over;  such  a  man  don't  appreciate  sport." 

IT  WAS  A  NOBLE  FISH, 

two  and  a  half  feet  in  length  from  the  tip  of  its 
quivering  tail  to  the  extremity  of  its  gaping  jaws. 
We  had  now  drifted  quite  a  distance  down  stream, 
but  Stanley  resumed  his  paddling,  and  guided  our 
craft  so  that  in  its  course  up  stream  my  line  swung 
under  the  overhanging  willows  of  the  steep  shore. 
Again  my.  little  rod  was  bent  into  a  circle,  and 
my  reel  sang  sweet  music  in  response  to  the  fierce 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         375 

bull-like  rush  of  one  of  the  spotted  savages  of  the 
cold  glacier  waters. 

THE  UNUSUAL  SIZE  OF  MY  BAIT 

and  the  swiftly  plunging  water  were  enough  in 
themselves  to  try  a  sensitive  rod,  and  you  may 
imagine  the  effect  of  adding  a  big  bull-trout  to  the 
strain  the  tackle  already  had  to  bear;  it  made  lively 
times,  and  was  an  experience  to  cause  the  hair  on 
the  nape  of  a  tenderfoot's  neck  to  rise  with  excite- 
ment at  the  mere  thought  of  it. 

An  hour  or  so  later,  as  our  little  canoe  was  drift- 
ing down  to  where  the  sky-pilot  could  still  be  seen 
thrashing  the  water  with  his  frayed-out  flies,  Stan- 
ley made  me  disengage  the  dead  bait,  remove  the 
gangs  of  hooks,  and  cast  the  wired  fish  overboard. 
I  was  then  directed  to  affix  my  leader  with  the 
flies  attached,  after  which  the  mountain  man  se- 
lected a  bull-trout  of  about  two  feet  in  length, 
which  still  showed  signs  of  life,  and  hooking  one 
of  my  flies  in  the  lip  of  the  captured  fish,  he  gently 
dropped  it  into  the  water. 

"IT  WILL  COME  TO  IN  A  FEW  MINUTES," 

explained  my  guide,  and  it  did.  We  were  drifting 
among  the  eddies  near  the  sky-pilot  when  I  felt  my 
fish  tug  at  the  line.  Just  then  the  dominie  hailed 
us  with  the  inquiry,  "What  luck,  good  friends?" 

"Ah,  only  so  so — not  biting  well  today,"  replied' 
Stanley,  in  a  discouraged  tone,  but  with  a  twinkle 
in  his  eyes.  By  this  time  I  was  beginning  to  have 


376 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


fun  with  my  resuscitated  trout.  This  attracting 
my  guide's  attention,  he,  in  simulation  of  wild  ex- 
citement, began  to  shout  such  advice  as  this:  "Gosh 
all  hemlock,  man!  hold  yer  mouth  right!  Keep 
the  tip  up.  Don't  snub  him !  Look  out  now !  Mind 
yer  mouth!"  and  many  similar  directions.  We 
made  a  fine  show,  and  I  played  the  half-dead  fish 
in  such  a  careful  manner,  taking  advantage  of  every 
swirl  of  the  current  to  let  my  reel  run,  that  it 
might  have  deceived  even  a  more  expert  angler  than 
the  little  parson. 

The  sight  of  the  two-foot  fish  brought  forth  an 
exclamation  of  delight  from  the  sky-pilot  which 
softened  my  heart  and 

MADE  ME  FEEL  GUILTY. 

We  were  now 
close  to  the  St. 
Lawrence  skiff, 
and  when  the 
dominie  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the 
string  of  great 
fish  in  the  canoe 
bottom,  he  nearly 
collapsed,  and  as 
soon  as  he  could 
find  his  voice  he 
softly  said  to 
himself:  uDear 
me!  Dear  me! 
and  on  '  a  flv  WOMEN  ARE  ALWAYS  THE 

'*'  BEST   FISHERMEN. 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         377 

too!"  Then,  as  a  sudden  thought  seemed  to  strike 
him,  he  cried:  "Good  gracious,  gentlemen!  How 
did  you  hold  your  mouths?" 

In  the  lower  part  of  New  York,  where  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge  crosses  the  narrow  streets  with  its 
arches,  there  was  formerly  a  number  of  taxi- 
dermists' shops,  and  there  are  still  some  left  in 
that  neighborhood.  There  was  one  store  occupied 
by  Mr.  Wallace.  It  was 

A  DARK,  MYSTERIOUS  PLACE 

filled  with  pungent  odors  and  uncanny  objects,  as 
like  as  not  one  would  find  a  heap  of  dead  animals, 
trophies  of  the  hunt,  in  the  passage  way.  The 
gloom  of  the  store  took  as  many  fanciful  shapes 
as  one's  bedroom  does  when  one  has  the  night- 
mare. There  were  huge  gorillas,  great  serpents, 
terrible  nondescript  animals.  These  things  were, 
however,  real,  while  those  we  see  in  the  nightmare 
fade  away  when  we  open  our  eyes.  When  I  say 
the  queer  things  in  Wallace's  shop  were  real  I  do 
not  mean  that  they  were  alive,  I  only  wish  to  con- 
vey the  idea  that  they  were  real,  substantial  objects 
and  were  specimens  of 

MR.  WALLACE'S  SKILL  AS  A  TAXIDERMIST. 
The  giant  gorilla  skin  was  never  worn  by  a  live 
gorilla,  but  formerly  clothed  the  back  of  some 
bears.  In  truth  there  was  nothing  in  connection 
with  this  giant  gorilla  which  came  from  a  real  ani- 
mal of  this  kind.  The  teeth  which  gleamed  in  his 
ugly  mouth  formerly  were  the  pride  and  power  of 


378  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

an  African  lion.  But  nevertheless  it  did  have  a 
realistic  appearance  and  resembled  a  real  gorilla; 
it  is  today  probably  being  exhibited  by  some  side- 
show and  heralded  as  the  genuine  article.  Mr. 
Wallace's  principal  business,  however,  was  not  mak- 
ing groups  of  strange  animals  for  side-shows,  but 
skillfully  mounting  real  animals'  skins  in  as  good  an 
imitation  of  nature  as  did  any  of  the  taxidermists 
of  his  time.  If  the  shop  was  gloomy,  mysterious, 
and  uncanny,  it  did  not  in  any  particular  partake 
of  the  nature  of  the  proprietor,  for  Wallace  him- 
self was  a  long-bearded,  genial  old  soul,  a  man  of 
wide  experience  and  a  most  interesting  person  with 
whom  to  talk.  Whenever  he  received  some  new 
or  strange  creature  it  was  his  custom  to  send  me 
word  and  I  would  journey  down  to  his  shop  to 
make  sketches  and  take  notes.  One  day  Wallace 
sent  word  that  he  had 

A  PARROT  FISH  DOWN  AT  HIS  SHOP 

which  he  thought  might  make  an  interesting 
sketch.  I  was  very  busy  at  the  time  on  some  rush 
work,  and  so  I  asked  the  wood  engraver,  in  the 
office  next  to  my  studio,  if  he  would  not  go  and 
get  the  parrot  fish  for  me  at  noon.  He  was  a  good 
fellow  and  readily  agreed  to  accommodate  me,  but 
after  he  produced  the  fish  it  took  a  long  time 
for  me  to  convince  him  that  I  had  no  idea  of  the 
size  of  the  fish  and  no  intention  of  playing  a  prac- 
tical joke  when  I  asked  him  to  get  it,  and  it  is 
doubtful  if  he  ever  was  thoroughly  convinced.  I 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         379 

thought  the  parrot  fish  was  a  small  creature  about 
the  size  of  a  shad,  but  as  Mat,  the  engraver,  said : 
"It  was  as  long  as  a  plumber's  bill  and  as  fat  as  a 
police  captain/'  and  he  had  toted  that  blamed 
thing  on  his  shoulder  from  Ann  Street  along 
Broadway  to  Dey  Street. 

HE  CAUSED  GREAT  HILARITY 

and  a  brilliant  flow  of  witticisms  among  the  crowds 
that  he  passed,  and  when  he  reached  my  studio 
his  face  was  red  with  anger  and  chagrin,  which  was 
increased  by  the  burst  of  laughter  with  which  I 
greeted  him  and  his  big  parrot  fish.  It  may  be 
that  before  Mat  died,  he  had  forgiven  me  for  the 
joke  he  thought  I  played  upon  him,  or  it  may  be 
before  that  time  that  the  good  fellow  really  be- 
lieved that  it  was  an  accident  and  that  I  had  no 
more  idea  of  the  size  of  the  fish  than  he  had.  The 
incident,  however,  served  to  teach  us  both  not 
only  the  size  of  a  parrot  fish  but  incidentally 
their  habits  and  general  appearance.  Since  then 
very  much  smaller  live  specimens  have  been  ex- 
hibited at  the  New  York  Aquarium,  but  this  one 
of  Wallace's  was  a  "sockdologer"  and  a  real 

AMERICAN  PARROT  FISH. 

There  is  probably  no  more  curious  and  beautiful 
fish  in  American  waters  than  this  great  green  fish, 
yet,  after  having  spent  nearly  a  day  in  a  diligent 
search  at  the  library,  the  writer  was  unable  to  find 


380  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

any  account  of  it  beyond  the  bare  mention  of  the 
fact  that  such  a  fish  existed,  but  there  were  many 
careful  drawings  and  accounts  of  the  European 
scarus,  a  smaller  and  less  elegant  creature  inhabit- 
ing the  Mediterranean  Sea,  but  since  Mat  went 
fishing  on  William  Street,  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment has  printed  numerous  beautifully  illus- 
trated books  of  our  fishes. 

The  Wallace  specimen  came  from  Campeachy 
Bay,  Mexico,  and  was,  when  this  was  written, 
owned  by  Mr.  Blackford,  of  Fulton  Market.  It 
measured,  from  tip  of  its  beak  to  tip  of  its  tail, 
three  feet  one  inch,  and  its  greatest  vertical  width 
was  thirteen  inches.  In  form  the  fish  is  not  un- 
like the  common  usheepshead" ;  its  dorsal  and  cau- 
dal fins  terminate  in  long  points,  and  the  other  fins 
have  the  same  tendency.  There  was  no  way  of  as- 
certaining its  weight,  but  when  alive  it  could  have 
weighed  not  less  than  forty  or  fifty  pounds.  The 
most  striking  peculiarity  of  this  fish  is  its  dental 
anatomy.  Its  odd-looking  mouth  or  beak  is  com- 
posed of  a  bony  structure  of  a  bluish-green  color, 
excepting  the  teeth  upon  the  cutting  edge,  which 
are  white  and  polished.  These  teeth,  from  the  out- 
side, have  the  appearance  of  being  rather  long 
shingle  shafts  set  edge  to  edge.  Upon  the  inside, 
however,  their  compound  structure  is  at  once  de- 
tected; the  cutting  edge  of  each  jaw  is  composed 
of  about  fourteen  irregular  scallops  or  undulations, 
each  of  which  is  composed  of  about  eight  well-de- 
fined teeth,  with  five  or  six  very  indistinct  ones  as 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES         381 

a  base.  The  four  teeth  which  form  the  rim  are 
white;  the  four  crowded  below  are  tinted  with 
green,  making  a  pretty  green  and  white  mosaic 
work;  the  green  gradually  grows  darker  until  it 
merges  into  the  uniform  color  of  the  bony  beak 
or  jaw. 

THE  TEETH  OF  FISHES 

offer  a  more  striking  series  of  varieties  than  that 
of  any  other  animal.  First,  the  sturgeon  and 
the  whole  order  to  which  it  belongs  is  without 
teeth;  the  myxinoids  have  only  a  single  tooth;  and, 
lastly,  are  those  fish  whose  mouths  are  filled  with 
countless  numbers  of  fangs  or  points  as  the  pike. 
The  dental  organs  are  always  an  important  and 
almost  a  sure  key  to  the  habits  of  an  animal;  for 
from  the  form,  construction,  and  position  of  the 
teeth  an  accurate  and  definite  conclusion  can  be 
reached  as  to  the  kind  of  food  eaten.  So  in  the 
curious  arrangement  of  the  mouth  of  the  parrot 
fish  we  see  that  the  teeth  grow  in  crowds,  new  ones 
being  always  ready  to  take  the  place  of  the  old 
ones  that  are  worn  away,  from  which  fact  it  would 
be  natural  to  infer  that  the  teeth  are  much  worn 
in  masticating  the  food,  and  that  the  food  must 
be  hard.  This  reference  is  proved  to  be  correct 
upon  learning  that  their  food  is  the  corals  that 
cover  the  bottom  of  the  sea  like  a  brilliant  garden 
of  many-colored  flowers.  The  sensitive  little 
creatures  upon  which  these  fish  feed,  retire  when 
touched  into  their  calcareous  suits  of  armor,  and 


382  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

the  fish  must  therefore  be  provided  with  suitable 
instruments  for  crushing  their  prey  from  their 
stony  coverings. 

Although  we  may  laugh  at  the  ignorance  and 
superstition  of  the  ancients  when 

THEY  SAID  THAT  THE  PARROT  FISH  COULD  TALK, 

and  declared  that  it  had  the  habit  of  sleeping  at 
night  and  ruminating  by  day,  we  must  acknowledge 
that  there  was  some  logic  in  their  method  of  rea- 
soning, for  the  parrot  fish  certainly  browses  upon 
the  corals  much  after  the  manner  of  ruminating 
animals,  and  until  a  comparatively  recent  date 
corals  themselves  were  believed  to  be  vegetables 
and  the  little  creatures  that  inhabit  them  to  be  the 
flowers. 

Cuvier  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  parrot  fish 
of  Adrovandus  is  the  species  celebrated  by 
the  ancients,  by  whom  it  was  endowed  with  most 
wonderful  qualities  and  intelligence.  They  as- 
serted that  he  was  a  sort  of  good  Samaritan, 

GOING  ABOUT  DOING  GOOD 

to  his  neighbor  by  releasing  all  unfortunate  fish 
found  entangled  in  the  nets  set  for  them  by  their 
enemy — man.  It  was  also  believed  that  this  species 
alone  among  all  fish  slept  at  night  and  had  the 
power  of  chewing  its  cud  like  cattle.  The  parrot 
fish  was  highly  esteemed  as  a  delicacy,  the  flesh  was 
said  to  be  tender  and  palatable.  They  were  cooked 
like  woodcock — without  removing  the  intestines — 


FISH  SKETCHES  AND  FISH  STORIES 


383 


and  are  so  cooked  and  served  to  the  present  day. 
Elipertius  Optatus,  commander  of  the  Roman  Fleet 
in  the  time  of  Claudius,  sailed  to  Greece  with  the 
object  of  obtaining  large  supplies  of  these  fish  with 
which  to  stock  the  Italian  Seas. 

So  "there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun."  Even 
Seth  Green,  our  great  and  enthusiastic  piscatorial 
culturist,  but  followed  in  the  path  trodden  by  the 
ancient  fish  culturists  many  hundred  years  removed. 

I  told  all  this  to  my  obliging  friend,  Mat  the 
engraver,  but  Mat  said,  "Cut  it  out!  I'm  through 
with  parrot  fish,  even  the  newsboys  in  the  street 
shouted  as  I  passed: 

'GET  ON  TER  JONAH  AND  THE  WHALE,'  " 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


LIZARDS,  NEWTS  AND  SALAMANDERS 

A  HEADLESS  SNAKE  STRIKES  THE  AUTHOR — TEST  OF  THE  FET- 
ISH— THE  STORY  OF  BILLY  WHO  IS  HAPPIEST  WHEN  HE 
IS  BLUE — HOW  HE  CAME  BY  MAIL — WAS  ASPHYXIATED — 
ATE  MEAL  WORMS — LITTLE  RED  "  BILLIES,"  BIG  RED 
"BILLIES,"  SPOTTED  "BILLIES,"  AND  SLIMY  "BILLIES" 
— A  WATER  "BILLY" — A  GREAT  MYSTERY — THE  DOUBLE 
LIFE  OF  THE  VERMILION  SPOTTED  NEWT — HE  EATS  HIS 

OLD  CLOTHES— ONLY  COMES  OUT  AT  NIGHT — EASY  TO 
KEEP  IN  CONFINEMENT — THE  CAROLINA  ANOLIS — CAUGHT 

A  BLACK  ONE  AND   FOUND     I     HAD    A     GREEN     ONE COLOR 

CHANGES  OF  AN  AMERICAN  CHAMELEON — GREEN  ITS 
FAVORITE  COLOR — WONDERFUL  ARRANGEMENT  OF  ITS 
FEET. 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  a  package  came  by 
mail  from  Natchez,  Mississippi.  It  was  tightly 
sealed,  but  had  a  suspicious  appearance,  and  looked 
as  if  it  contained  some  sort  of  natural  history  speci- 
men, but  whether  the  thing  inside  was  dead  or 
alive,  iish  or  reptile,  there  was  but  one  way  to  dis- 
cover. The  package  was  opened  and  out  rolled 
a  little  lizard.  It  was  apparently  dead,  asphyxi- 
ated from  its  long  confinement  without  air,  but 
when  laid  on  the  window-sill  where  the  breeze  blew 
over  its  little  gray  body,  it  soon  began  to  show  signs 
of  life.  A  letter  following  the  package  told  me 
that  the  thing  was  a  pet  and  its  name  was  Billy. 

384 


LIZARDS,  NEWTS  AND  SALAMANDERS       385 

I  do  not  know  the  common  name  for  this  lizard, 
but  its  long  scientific  name  is  Sceloporus  undulaytus 
and  Billy  was  a  male  specimen  of  this  lizard  as 
anyone  could  tell  by  the  markings  under  his  chin 
and  upon  the  sides  of  his  belly.  When  Billy  felt 
good  the  spots  under  his  chin  turned  blue;  when 
he  felt  fine  and  was  in  buoyant  spirits  they  were 
a  brilliant  sky  blue;  in  other  words,  Billy  just  re- 
versed the  scheme  of  color  we  human  beings  have. 
When  we're  feeling  fine  we  say  we  have  a  red  hot 
time,  and  when  we're  feeling  bad  we  say  we're 
having  the  blues.  Billy  was  happiest  when  he  had 
the  blues.  I  kept  him  for  a  year  or  more  and  he 
used  to  rattle  around  my  studio  among  the  papers, 
scamper  over  the  wire  screen  in  the  windows,  and 
catch  flies  on  the  window-pane,  but  his  principal 
food  consisted  of  meal  worms  which  I  bought  for 
him  at  the  bird  fanciers.  My  little  girl  was  a  tiny 
baby  when  Billy  arrived,  and  had  just  learned  to 
talk  when  Billy  died.  The  consequence  of  this  is 
that  now  that  she  is  five  years  old,  every  newt,  sala- 
mander and  lizard  is  called  by  her  a  Billy,  anr! 
she  distinguishes  them  only  by  the  color.  There 
are  little 

RED  BILLIES  AND  BIG  RED  BILLIES, 

and  spotted  Billies  and  slimy  Billies,  and  these  are 
the  names  commonly  used  by  all  the  visitors  to 
Wild  Lands.  The  little  red  Billy  is  the  vermilion- 
spotted  newt  or  red  eft;  an  exceedingly  interest- 


386  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ing  little  creature  and  very  common  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Pike  County. 

After  a  rain  one  may  pick  up  hundreds  of  them 
on  any  mountain  trail,  path  or  wood  road,  and 
from  the  time  little  Barbara  was  able  to  creep  she 
has  taken  great  delight  in  gathering  red  Billies, 
and  each  year  we  bring  home  a  lot  with  us  to  the 
city,  where  they  live  on  some  damp  sphagnum 
moss  in  a  fish  globe  in  apparent  contentment  all 
winter.  Down  in  the  lake  among  the  lily  pads 
there  is  a 

WATER  "BILLY," 

in  other  words  an  aquatic  vermilion-spotted  newt. 
Surrounding  these  two  newts  and  their  life  history 
there  is  a  great  mystery.  It  is  claimed  by 
Professor  Simon  Henry  Gage  of  Cornell  Uni- 
versity who  has  written  an  exceedingly  interesting 
paper  on  the  subject,  that  the  vermilion-spotted 
newt  deposits  its  eggs  upon  water  plants  and  stones 
in  the  water.  The  eggs  are  sticky  and  adhere  to 
the  plants  and  stones  until  they  are  hatched.  The 
young  live  in  the  water  for  a  while  and  then  leave 
it  and  take  to  the  land.  When  they  take  to  the 
land  they  are  known  as  the  vermilion-spotted 
newts,  and  by  the  country  people  as  the 

LITTLE  RED  "LIZARDS." 

I  have  kept  the  vermilion-spotted  newts  all  winter 
and  they  did  change  their  color  and  assume  the 
yellowish  brown  of  the  aquatic  specimens,  but  I 


LIZARDS,  NEWTS  AND  SALAMANDERS       387 

could  not  induce  them  to  live  in  the  water.  How- 
ever, they  may  not  have  been  ready  for  that  change 
of  environment,  and  my  experiment  proves  nothing, 
but  anyone  interested  in  solving  this  problem  can 
easily  do  so  by  keeping  a  lot  of  vermilion-spotted 
newts  in  a  box,  the  bottom  of  which  is  covered 
with  moss  which  must  be  kept  damp.  By  intro- 
ducing fresh  moss  you  will  introduce  new  food 


SKETCHES  OP  NEWT  SKINNING  ITSELF 

supply  for  the  little  creatures,  for  the  moss  will 
be  full  of  all  the  little  worms  and  insects  which 
make  their  home  in  the  damp  carpet  of  the  woods. 
I  have  kept  the  aquatic  newts  in  aquariums  for 
a  year  or  more,  but  never  had  one  show 
an  inclination  or  indication  of  changing  its  former 


388  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

habits  to  that  of  a  land  animal.  But  I  did  succeed 
in  making  some  interesting  sketches  of  one  of  these 
creatures  in  the  act  of  removing  its  skin,  which  are 
here  reproduced.  The  sketches  were  very  rapidly 
drawn,  but  are  perfectly  accurate  as  far  as  the  pose 
and  action  of  the  creature  is  concerned.  Fig.  i 
shows  a  newt  with 

THE  SKIN  ROLLED  BACK  FROM  ITS  HEAD 

over  its  arms  pinioning  them  to  its  side.  This  was 
as  I  first  discovered  it ;  by  a  series  of  wriggling  mo- 
tions the  creature  squirmed  out  of  its  skin  until 
the  arms  were  free,  and  the  fold  of  skin  bound  its 
waist  like  a  tight  belt,  as  shown  in  Fig.  2. 

STILL  SQUIRMING 

and  writhing  the  slippery  little  body  worked  its 
way  out  of  its  tight-fitting  clothes  until  it  had 
rolled  its  shirt,  so  to  speak,  back  over  its  legs  as 
may  be  seen  as  shown  by  Fig.  3.  The  hardest 
part  of  the  work  was  now  over;  it  seemed  an  easy 
matter  for  it  to  work  its  skin  down  to  its  tail,  and 
then  a  funny  thing  happened;  the  little  animal  bent 
itself  in  a  circle,  as  shown  by  Fig.  4,  took  the  old 
skin  in  its  mouth  and  pulled  it  off  from  the  end  of 
its  tail,  wrong  side  outwards,  of  course,  just  as 
you  would  pull  the  finger  of  a  kid  glove  from  your 
own  finger,  Fig.  5.  I  was  interested  to  know  what 
it  was  going  to  do  with  its  old  suit  of  clothes; 
whether  It  would  donate  them  to  some  aquatic 


LIZARDS,  NEWTS  AND  SALAMANDERS       389 

orphan  asylum,  send  them  to  the  missionaries  or 
sell  them  to  some  subaqueous  ragman;  but  little 
Red  Spot  had  a  better  way  of  disposing  of  its  cast- 
off  garments  and  that  was  by  simply  swallowing 
them,  as  shown  in  Fig.  6. 


THE  SPOTTED  SALAMANDER 
is  much  larger  than  the  vermilion-spotted  newt, 


390  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

and  specimens  which  I  have  measured,  ran  from 
five  and  one-half  to  six  inches  long. 

THE  SPOTTED  SALAMANDER 

delights  in  living  in  the  muck  and  mud  and  only 
comes  out  at  night.  The  one  which  I  kept  in  cap- 
tivity for  about  a  year  fed  on  angle  worms.  It 
was  not  very  lively,  and  if  it  was  guilty  of  any 
interesting  performances  they  were  done  while  I 
was  asleep. 

THE    LITTLE    BROWN    SALAMANDER 

known  as  the  red-backed  salamander,  on  account 
of  a  reddish  brown  streak  extending  from  its  nose 
along  its  back  to  the  tip  end  of  its  tail,  is  very  plen- 
tiful in  the  woods  of  Pennsylvania.  It  lives  under 
sticks  and  stones  and  wet  rags,  in  rotten  stumps, 
under  damp  fallen  leaves,  or  any  place  which 
affords  moisture.  Its  life  history  is  unknown  to 
me,  but  it  makes  a  good  companion  in  a  collection 
of  the  vermilion-spotted  newts,  and  lives  with 
these  little  creatures,  if  not  on  terms  of  friendship, 
at  least  as  an  inoffensive  companion. 

To  supplement  my  drawing  of  these  creatures  I 
have  introduced  some  most  excellent  photographs 
taken  from  live  specimens,  and  with  them  is  the 
photograph  of  the 

RED  SALAMANDER. 


Upper  Picture.— RED  EFT  OR  VER- 
MILION-SPOTTED NEWT. 

Lower  Picture.— RED  BACKED  SA- 
LAMANDER. 


LIZARDS,  NEWTS  AND  SALAMANDERS       391 

This  must  not 
be  confused  with  | 
the  vermilion- 
spotted  newt,  as 
it  differs  from  it 
in  both  size, 
habits  and  ap- 
pearance. It  is 
of  a  brilliant 
vermilion  color, 
disagreeable  to 
handle  because 
it  is  very  slimy 
whereas  the  lit- 
tle red  efts  are 
not  at  all  unpleasant  to  handle  and  not  in  the  least 
slimy.  The  red  salamander  shown  here  was  about 
six  inches  long,  covered  with  black  spots  and  ex- 
tremely lively.  It  also  is  nocturnal  in  its  habits,  but 
the  one  we  kept  in  confinement  would  come  out 
of  its  concealment  much  more  frequently  than  did 
its  dark-colored,  spotted  companion.  The  draw- 
ings reproduced  here  in  half-tone  were  made  in 
colors,  but  to  reproduce  in  colors  all  the  numerous 
illustrations  in  this  book  would  add  so  much  to 
the  expense  as  practically  to  put  it  out  of  the  reach 
of  boys  and  young  people  for  whom  it  was  written. 
I  have  already  said  that  I  knew  very  little  about 
the 
LIFE  HISTORY  OF  THE  COMMON  SALAMANDERS, 

newts  and  lizards,  and  from  my  experience  in  re- 


392 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


f erring  to  technical  books  on  the  subject  I  think 
there  is  a  great  deal  yet  to  be  learned.  Labor  fol- 
lows the  line  of  the  least  resistance  in  the  study 
of  Nature  as  well  as  in  all  other  fields  of  work; 
consequently  the  majority  of  Nature  students 
choose  birds.  Birds  are  popular,  easily  seen.  You 
can  lie  on  the  grass  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  to 
watch  them  and  take  notes  of  their  habits,  but  you 
cannot 


1.  THE  SPOTTED  SALAMANDER. 

2.  THE  RED  SALAMANDER. 


BURY  YOURSELF   IN   THE   MUD 

and  muck  of  the  swamp  to  study  the  habits  and 
life  history  of  the  spotted  salamander.  Neither  can 
you  bury  yourself  in  the  cold  ground  around  the 
spring  hole  and  live  under  the  sphagnum  moss 
while  you  make  notes  of  the  red  salamander;  but 
you  can  very  easily  keep  all  these  creatures  in  con- 
finement, and  here  is  an  opportunity  for  any 


LIZARDS,  NEWTS  AND  SALAMANDERS       393 
AMBITIOUS  BOY  NATURALIST 

to  make  careful  and  accurate  observations  and 
notes  of  these  creatures  which  will  not  only  be  in- 
teresting for  himself,  but  his  discoveries  will  be  of 
importance  enough  to  give  him  a  reputation  and 
standing  even  among  the  grave  old  scientists. 

Everybody,  however,  is  familiar  with  the  ap- 
pearance of 

THE  AMERICAN  CHAMELEON 

or  the  green  Carolina  anolis. 

Perhaps  the  first  creature  that  attracts  the  eye 
of  the  Northern  naturalist  upon  landing  at  Florida 
is  a  small,  slender  lizard,  which  appears  omni- 
present, to  be  seen  running  up  and  down  the  walls 
of  the  old  fort  at  St.  Augustine,  peering  in  at  the 
windows  of  the  hotel  at  Palatka,  scampering  over 
the  logs  of  the  swamp  at  Tocoi,  or  scrambling 
along  the  garden  fences  at  Jacksonville.  It  may 
also  be  seen  exhibited  for  sale  along  with  young 

ALLIGATORS,  WILDCATS,  BLACK  BEARS, 

and  many  other  queer  objects  to  be  found  in  the 
jewelry  stores  at  Jacksonville. 

The  specimen  from  which  my  illustrations  are 
made  I  captured  at  Tocoi.  When  first  taken  it 
was  of  a  sooty  black,  five  minutes  afterwards,  when 
I  opened  the  handkerchief  in  which  I  was  carry- 
ing it  to  show  my  prize  to  a  friend,  I  was  amazed 
to  find,  in  the  place  of  the  dark,  dingy 


394  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

little  creature  I  had  wrapped  up,  a  beautiful 
emerald  green  lizard.  It  was  only  then  that  I  dis- 
covered my  specimen  to  be  the  so-called  American 
chameleon.  I  was  somewhat  ashamed  of  my  ig- 
norance until  I  met  a  certain  collector  from  Michi- 
gan, who  had  gathered  quite  a  number  of  what  he 
took  to  be  distinct  species  of  lizards,  and  had  care- 
fully preserved  them  in  spirits,  only  to  find  upon 
inspection,  that  they  were  all  exactly  alike  in  form 
and  color,  all  having  assumed  a  yellowish-brown 
tint  after  immersion  in  alcohol.  Those  that  I  kept 
in  captivity  proved  very  gentle  pets,  and  would  run 
over  my  hands  waiting  eagerly  for  me  to  catch 
flies  for  them.  Although  quick  in  their  movements, 
and  able  by  the  help  of  their  tail  to  spring  quite 
a  distance,  these  little  animals  never  could  capture 
the  flies  for  themselves  unless  I  first  crippled  the 
insect  by  removing  a  wing.  They  loved  the  sun- 
shine and  fresh  air,  the  latter  they  would  swallow 
occasionally  in  great  gulps,  expanding  a  sort  of 
pouch  under  their  neck  by  the  process. 

THOUGH  GENTLE  WHEN  TREATED  WITH 
KINDNESS, 

when  tormented  they  would  fight,  opening  their 
mouths  in  a  ludicrous  manner.  After  trying  in 
vain  to  bite  a  lead  pencil,  with  which  I  had  been 
stroking  its  back  and  otherwise  plaguing  it,  one 
of  them  deliberately 


LIZARDS,  NEWTS  AND  SALAMANDERS       395 
SHOOK  OFF  ITS  TAIL, 

and  scampered  away,  leaving  three-fifths  of  its 
length  wriggling  upon  the  floor,  where  it  continued 
to  twist  for  some  time.  A  drop  or  two  of  blood 
moistened  the  stump  where  the  tail  had  been,  but 
though  the  loss  of  the  latter  appeared  to  cause  no 
physical  pain  the  little  cripple  seemed 

ASHAMED  OF   ITS  ODD  APPEARANCE 

and  hid  itself  in  corners.  It  remained   in  my  room 
for  a  month  longer,  but  I  seldom  caught  sight  of 
the  disfigured  little  thing. 
It  is 

THE  COLOR  CHANGES 

of  this  little  creature  that  attract  and  interest  all 
observers. 

The  negroes  and  even  intelligent  white  inhabi- 
tants of  the  district  frequented  by  the  anolis,  tell 
many  fabulous  stories  of  its  wonderful  powers 
in  this  respect.  Experiments  with  specimens 
which  were  in  my  possession  at  different  times 
seemed  to  demonstrate  that  pea-green,  gray,  and 
sooty  black  and  reddish-yellow  were  the  limits 
of  its  powers.  When  frightened  or  pleased 

IT  TURNED  GREEN; 

if  agitated  for  some  time,  in  apparent  indecision, 
the  color  would  fade  and  return  in  blotches.  Under 
an  ordinary  magnifying  glass  it  could  be  seen  that 
the  hollow  around  the  eyes  changed  first.  Then 
the  hexagonal  plates  upon 


396  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

THE  HEAD  SHOWED  THE  COLOR, 

commencing  at  the  edges  and  gradually  spreading 
over  each  plate,  the  centers  being  the  last  points 
to  turn.  If  a  number  of  these  animals  are  placed 
in  alcohol  they  will  be  found  to  assume  a  dirty 
yellow  or  brown  tinge.  This  is  probably  the 
natural  hue  of  the  skin  with  the  coloring  matter 
removed.  The  pigments  appear  to  be  contained 
in  a  network  of  vessels  beneath  the  skin,  and  to  be 
somewhat,  though  not  altogether, 

UNDER  CONTROL  OF  THE  ANIMAL. 

One,  placed  upon  a  bright  crimson  cloth,  did  as- 
sume a  reddish-yellow  color,  and  though  it  did  not 
approach  the  brightness  of  the  cloth,  a  casual  ob- 
server would  hardly  have  noticed  the  lizard  mo- 
tionless upon  it,  but  I  doubt  that  the  color  of  the 
cloth  affected  the  color  of  the  anolis. 

Green  is  its  favorite  color,  and  black  I  never  saw 
but  in  one  instance.  When  hiding  in  the  Spanish 
moss  or  upon  a  tree  trunk  it  is  often  gray  in  color, 
but  this  may  be  accidental;  yellowish-red  it  as- 
sumes with  apparent  effort.  It  sometimes  was  very 
near  the  color  of  a  cigar  box.  From  tip  of  nose 
to  tip  of  tail  it  measures  from  five  to  six  inches, 
the  tail  being  three-fifths  of  its  total  length.  The 
head  is  rather  large,  triangular  in  shape,  apex  at 
the  nose,  and  covered  with  small  hexagonal  plates 
from  the  hose  to  just  behind  the  eyes.  The  rest 


/^JL 


398  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

of  the  body  is  covered  with  small  papillous  points ; 
the  nostrils  are  near  the  apex  of  the  nose;  the  ani- 
mal has  no  apparent  external  ears;  it  has  bright, 
intelligent,  almond-shaped  eyes;  large  mouth,  ten 
well  defined  teeth  upon  each  side  of  the  upper 
jaw,  four  well  defined  teeth  in  the  lower 
jaw,  the  intermediate  space  being  filled  with  minute 
points ;  and  four  well  developed  legs,  five  toes  upon 
each,  each  toe  swelling  out  into  a  soft  pad,  ter- 
minating in  a  hooked  claw.  The  pad  or  middle 
of  the  toe, 

UNDER  THE  MAGNIFYING  GLASS, 

shows  an  odd  arrangement  of  folds  or  flounces  in 
the  skin,  'each  flounce,  tuck,  or  fold  being  armed 
upon  its  edge  with  minute  points,  one-half  of  them 
pointing  up  and  the  other  half  down,  as  shown  in 
the  illustration.  This  explains  the  creature's  ability 
to  run  up  or  down  the  side  of  a  house  with  equal 
facility. 

In  the  illustration  I  have  shown  the  lizard  upon 
my  finger,  with  mouth  open ;  the  dark  color  repre- 
senting its  favorite  green  hue.  At  the  bottom  in 
the  moss  is  the  same  animal  in  its  gray  coat.  In 
the  same  place  appears  a  magnificent  view  of  the 
teeth,  the  second  toe  of  the  hind  foot  much  en- 
larged, showing  the  peculiar  arrangement  of  the 
folds  of  the  skin  upon  the  under  side,  and  an  en- 
larged view  of  the  hind  leg,  and  the  head  as  it 
appeared  under  the  glass  while  changing  its  color. 
But  in  making  the  half-tone  cut  for  this  book 
almost  all  the  drawings  were  reduced. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES 

LOOPING  THE  LOOP,  OR  HANDCUFFED  BY  A  BLACK  SNAKE — 
BITTEN  BY  A  RATTLER — WATER  SNAKE  PULLS  ITS  OWN  TAIL 
OFF — SNAKE  EGGS  WHICH  HATCH  INSIDE  THE  MOTHER — 

RING  SNAKES,  GREEN  SNAKES  AND  RED  BELLIED  SNAKES 

SQUIRREL  TORMENTS   A    BLACK   SNAKE LEGEND   OF    EVE*S 

WEDDING  RING — SLUG-EATING  SNAKES — A  TURTLE,  A 
MOLE  AND  A  ROBIN  UNABLE  TO  EAT  A  SLUG — SENSELESS 
HORROR — GREAT  JUMPING  JERUSALEM,  OR  THE  POLICEMAN 
AND  THE  PYTHON. 

I  owned  a  little  pocket  image  of  the  Sacred  Ape. 
It  was  sent  to  me  from  India  by  a  missionary 
friend  of  mine,  who  jokingly  said,  that  it  was  a 
very  powerful  fetish  and  if  properly  treated  could 
perform  magical  feats.  We  had  been  fishing,  my 
friend  and  I,  we  had  been  very  lucky  with  bass, 
pickerel  and  trout;  each  time  before  we  cast  a 
line  I  took  the  sacred  monkey  from  my  pocket 
and  mumbling  a  string  of  meaningless  words  over 
its  head  I  implored  it  to  give  us  luck.  My  friend 
became  very  enthusiastic  over  the  monk,  as  he 
called  it.  This  being  his  last  day  at  Wild  Lands, 
he  solemnly  asked  me  to  get  him  a  rattlesnake. 
At  that  time,  although  I  had  occupied  Wild  Lands 
for  a  number  of  years,  I  had  never  seen  or  heard 
a  rattlesnake  in  the  neighborhood,  or  any  other 

399 


400  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

part  of  the  country  around;  so  fearing  for  the  repu- 
tation of  my  sacred  monkey,  I  began  to  explain 
that  it  wasn't  a  good  season  for  rattlesnakes;  that 
we  had  had  bad  forest  fires  in  the  spring,  and  so 
on.  We  were  trudging  along  a  dusty  road  and 
my  guest  insisted  upon  sitting  right  down  there 
in  the  dust,  going  through  an  incantation,  and  ask- 
ing the  ape  to  produce  a  rattlesnake.  I  reluctantly 
consented,  telling  my  friend  at  the  same  time  that 
this  was  a  very  severe  test,  for  I  did  not  believe 
there  was  a  rattlesnake  in  the  township.  We  both 
sat  down,  however,  in  the  dusty  road  and  I  drew 
a  magic  circle  with  my  finger,  and  put  the  poor  old 
ape  from  Hindoostan  in  the  center,  and  as  solemn 
as  any  priest  of  the  ancient  gods,  went  through  the 
mummeries.  Now  here  is  where  luck  favored  me. 
We  had  not  gone  a  quarter  of  a  mile  when  we 
heard  a  locust  singing  in  a  huckleberry  bush. 
When  you  hear  a  locust  in  a  huckleberry  bush, 
it  isn't  a  locust  you  hear  at  all,  but  a  rattlesnake. 
By  locust  I  mean  the  cicada,  or  harvest  fly,  which 
is  commonly  known  as  a  locust.  I  looked  around 
at  my  friend  and  he  was  stepping  as  high  as  if  the 
snow  was  three  feet  deep.  His  eyes  were  as  big 
as  saucers.  I  told  him  the  snake  wasn't  in  the  road 
where  he  could  see  it,  it  was  in  the  huckleberry 
bush ;  I  then  cut  him  a  switch  so  that  he  might  kill 
the  snake  without  injuring  its  skin.  Bless  your 
soul !  He  did  not  hear  a  word  I  said  to  him,  but 
when  I  pointed  out  the  snake  to  him  in  the  huckle- 
berry bush  he  snatched  a  big  club  and  would  have 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  401 

beaten  it  to  a  jelly  had  I  not  restrained  him.  The 
snake  was  killed  and  I  cut  off  its  head.  It  is  cus- 
tomary in  Pike  County,  Pennsylvania,  always  to 
cut  off  the  head  of  a  dead  rattler  and  put  it  under 
a  stone  where  no  harm  can  come  from  foolish  peo- 
ple or  children  meddling  with  the  poisoned  fangs. 
I  then  reached  for  the  snake  for  the  purpose  of 
skinning  it,  but  no  sooner  did  my  fingers  touch 
the  body  than  it  instantly  assumed  a  striking  pose  ; 
although  I  instinctively  jumped  away 

THE   SNAKE   STRUCK  ME 

on  the  wrist  with  the  bloody  stump  of 
its  neck.  It  almost  seemed  as  if  the  headless  body 
not  only  possessed  nerves,  but  also  sight.  How- 
ever, I'll  leave  this  act  to  be  explained  by  men 
who  make  a  study  of  these  things. 

LOOPING  THE  LOOP. 

While  out  in  the  woods  during  the  early  sum- 
mer I  became  much  interested  in  the  tree-climb- 
ing snakes,  and  while  making  some  colored  sketches 
of  live  specimens  I  was  surprised  at  the  facility 
and  rapidity  with  which  these  snakes  could  tie  a 
knot  with  their  bodies,  and  also  the  strength  they 
exhibited.  In  a  recent  issue  of  Recreation  there 
was  a  note  telling  how  a  young  man  of  Bohemia, 
Pike  County,  Pennsylvania,  was 

BITTEN  ON  THE  HAND  BY  A  RATTLER. 
What  interests  me  in  connection  with  this  subject 


402 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


is  not  the  fact  of  Jim's  being  bitten  by  this  ven- 
omous reptile,  if  he  was  really  bitten,  but  that  when 
the  snake  wrapped  around  his  arm  and  he  grasped 


HANDCUFFED    BY    A    SNAKE 


it  by  the  neck  it  had  sufficient  strength  to  pull  it- 
self loose  from  his  hand,  which  fact  caused  the 
accident.  I  know  Jim,  and  he  is  a  powerful  young 
backwoodsman,  with  muscles  of  iron,  and  even 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  403 

though  his  hold  might  not  have  been  the  best,  it 
must  have  required  phenomenal  strength  on  the 
part  of  the  snake  to  pull  loose  from  his  grasp.  I 
would  have  been  more  surprised  at  this  and  in- 
clined to  doubt  it  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that 
last  summer  I  grasped  a  water  snake,  which  was 
creeping  under  a  rock,  by  the  tail  a'ld  attempted 
to  hold  it  until  some  one  should  remove  the  stone ; 
but  the  snake  pulled  so  hard  that  it  left  the  tail 
in  my  grasp  and  itself  disappeared  under  the  stone. 
I  have  never  heard  that  the  water  snake  has  been 
noted  for  its  strength,  but  I  have  since  discovered 
that  this  snake  can  squeeze  with  more  power  than 
any  snake  of  its  size  which  I  have  handled. 
When  coiled  around  one's  wrist  the  common, 
banded  water  snake  "Moccasin,"  by  which 
I  mean  the  Tropidonotus  fasciatus  sipedon, 
the  common  water  snake  of  the  Northeast, 
can  coil  so  tightly  and  use  such  muscular  force  as 
to  be  very  uncomfortable.  It  can  also  make  an 
ugly  bite,  although  I  have  been  careful  not  to 
have  any  personal  experience  in  this  line.  They 
are  not  poisonous,  but  I  do  not  enjoy  being  bitten 
just  for  the  fun  of  the  thing  even  by  non-poisonous 
serpents.  In  the  colored  plate  accompanying  this 
chapter  the  reader  will  see  drawings  of  the  young 
water  snake  which  was  alive  when  taken  from  the 
egg,  also  a  colored  picture  of  the  eggs,  as 
they  appeared  when  taken  from  the  body 
of  the  snake,  like  a  string  of  big  amber 
beads,  and  a  separate  drawing  of  one  egg 


404 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


showing  the  young  snake  coiled  within.  There  is 
no  picture  of  the  parent  snake  for  the  reason  that 
she  was  mashed  to  a  jelly  by  a  large  stone  from 
the  hand  of  a  heroic  (  ?)  man.  I  baited  a  fish- 
hook with  one  of  the  young  snakes  and  made  a 
cast  from  the  pier  on  which  the  snake  was  killed. 
The  bait  no  sooner  sank  in  the  water  than  it  was 
devoured  by  a  large  sun-fish  which  I  landed  and 
then  threw  back.  Had  there  been  a  bass  or  a 


TOP  VIEW  OF  SELF-TYING  KNOT 

pickerel  there  at  that  moment,  it  would  probably 
have  taken  the  bait  as  readily  as  did  the  sun-fish. 
The  interesting  point  about  the  accompanying 
sketches  is  that  the  drawing  of  the  young  snake 
shows  two  heart-shaped  appendages,  which  have 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  405 

all  the  appearance  of  rudimentary  paddles,  corre- 
sponding to  the  hind  limbs  of  a  reptile. 

When  fishing  on  Big  Tink  Pond  these  water 
snakes  will  steal  one's  minnows  if  they  can  gain 
access  to  the  pail.  I  once  set  a  patent  minnow  trap 
for  bait  and  the  next  day  found  no  minnows  but 

THREE  VERY  PORTLY  WATER  SNAKES 

inside  the  trap. 

It  is  the  habit  of  the  native  fishermen  when  fish- 
ing for  catfish  at  night  to  cut  off  the  heads  of  the 
captured  fish,  skin  the  bodies  and  throw  the  head 
and  skin  into  the  water.  Any  one  acquainted  with 
the  flat,  broad-mouthed  catfish  knows  how  wide 
the  head  is  in  proportion  to  the  body  of  the  fish. 
One  day  I  discovered  one  of  these  water  snakes  in 
the  act  of  swallowing  a  large  catfish  head. 
I  carefully  retreated,  and  secured  my  camera  to 
photograph  the  reptile,  but  a  little  snake-killing 
dog  named  Jip  discovered  the  water  snake  before 
I  had  the  instrument  focused,  and  pouncing  upon 
it  he  shook  it  literally  to  pieces. 

When  making  these  sketches  of  the  little  green 
snake  which  I  attempted  to  hold  with  one  hand 
while  I  sketched  with  the  other,  it 

WOULD  SWING  ITS  TAIL 

around  until  it  struck  my  pencil  or  some  other  ob- 
ject, and  then,  with  a  motion  quicker  than  that  of 
the  most  expert  Jack  Tar,  it  would  throw  a  hitch 
around  that  object,  or  a  knot,  which  could  not 


4o6  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

be  pulled  loose  without  endangering  the  parting 
of  the  snake's  body. 

In  Pike  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Wild  Lands,  there  are  two  kinds  of  green 
snakes.  One  species  of  the  snake  is  the  keeled, 
and  the  other  is  the  smooth  or  the  grass  snake. 
Any  boy  can  distinguish 

THE   DIFFERENCE   BETWEEN  THESE   TWO   SNAKES 

as  soon  as  he  takes  them  in  his  hand.  They  are 
perfectly  harmless,  and  seldom  attempt  to  bite  one. 
The  only  time  I  ever  had  one  attempt  to  bite  me 
happened  while  I  was  trying  to  sketch  one 
shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  Some 
ladies  from  the  Forest  Lake  Club,  stopping  to 
make  a  call  at  my  camp,  interrupted  my  work,  and 
while  I  was  talking  to  them  one  of  them  gave  a 
scream  and  exclaimed:  "Mr.  Beard,  that  snake 
is  biting  your  thumb !" 

The  snake  was  trying  to  escape  from  my  hand, 
and  I  unconsciously  squeezed  it  too  hard  for  its 
comfort,  and  the  poor  little  thing  tried  to  free  it- 
self by  biting  my  thumb,  but,  as  may  be  imagined, 
the  bite  that  I  could  not  feel  was  not  a  very  serious 
bite.  Let  us,  however,  return  to  the  difference  be- 
tween these  two  snakes. 

THE  KEELED  GREEN  SNAKE 

has  a  little  ridge  on  each  scale,  like  the  keel  of  a 
boat,  and  the  smooth  green  snake  or  grass  snake 
has  none. 


THE    HARMLESS    GREEN    SNAKES 


408  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

In  the  "Serpents  of  Pennsylvania,"  by  Prof.  H. 
Surface,  the  keeled  green  snake  is  only  reported 
from  Lancaster  and  Dauphin  counties.  In  the 
magnificent  Reptile  Book  by  Raymond  L.  Dit- 
mar,  the  author  says  of  the  keeled  green  snake: 

"Although  widely  distributed  this  reptile  does 
not  range  so  far  north  as  the  other  green  snake. 
Its  habitat  is  from  Southern  New  Jersey  south- 
ward through  Florida  and  westward  to  the  Missis- 
sippi in  the  northern  portion  of  its  range.  In  the 
South,  it  extends  westward  to  California.  It  oc- 
curs in  Northern  Mexico."  From  which  it  appears 
that  they  have  not  before  been  reported  as  far 
north  as  Wild  Lands.  Unfortunately,  my  speci- 
mens of  both  kinds  were  carelessly  allowed  to  es- 
cape before  the  drawings  were  finished.  The  truth 
is  that  I  was  more  interested  at  the  time  in  their 

ABILITY  TO  TIE  KNOTS  WITH  THEIR  TAILS 

than  in  making  a  record  of  the  range  of  the  dif- 
ferent species,  but  I  can  positively  state  that  I 
picked  up  a  specimen  of  the  keeled  green  snake, 
which  I  found  sunning  itself  in  the  middle  of  the 
road  leading  from  Forest  Lake  Club  to  Wild 
Lands. 

While  engaged  in  this  work  my  nephew  cap- 
tured 

A  LUSTY  MOUNTAIN  BLACK  SNAKE, 

and  I  got  my  camera  ready,  focused  it  and  put 
it  in  the  hands  of  one  of  the  party,  and  then  tried 


VIEW   OF  UNDER  SIDE  OP  KNOT  PULLED  TIGHT  BY 
THE  SNAKE  ITSELF 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK  409 

the  experiment  to  see  what  the  black  snake  would 
do  with  my  two  hands  when  his  tail  touched  them. 
The  result  is  depicted  in  the  accompanying  photo- 
graphs. 

IT  HANDCUFFED  ME 

in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  how  it  did  it.  In 
fact,  its  movements  were  too  quick  for  me  to 
accurately  tell  just  how  they  were  made,  but  by 
taking  a  series  of  photographs  of  different  views 
I  succeeded  in  getting  some  pictures  which  will  ex- 
plain the  operation  better  than  I  can  by  words. 
The  first  photograph  shows  my  nephew 

HOLDING  THE  SNAKE   BY  THE   HEAD 

the  moment  after  its  tail  had  touched  my  arm, 
and,  as  may  be  seen,  my  hands  are  securely  tied 
together,  (on  p.  404.) 

The  second  photograph  shows  an  upper  view  o'f 
the  snake  in  my  hands. 

The  third  photograph  shows  an  under  view.  In 
each  of  these  two  photographs  I  forcibly  kept 
my  hands  apart  so  as  to  show  the  manner  in  which 
the  knot  was  tied.  In  the  last  photograph  you  can 
see  how  completely  I  was  handcuffed,  after 


THE  SNAKE  HAD  DRAWN  THE  KNOT  TAUT, 

by    this    living   manacle.      Of    course,    I    do    not 
want  the  reader  or  anyone  else  to  think  that  I  was 


4io  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

unable  to  free  myself,  because  I  have  strength 
enough,  and  any  ordinary  man  has,  simply  to  pull 
his  hands  apart  and  tear  the  body  of  the  little 
reptile  asunder;  but  had  its  body  been  made  of 
metal  instead  of  flesh  no  handcuff  invented  by  man 
could  have  held  me  more  securely. 

TO  KEEP  THIS  SNAKE  FOR  FUTURE  OBSERVATIONS 

I  threw  him  in  a  large  receiving  cage,  which  was 
made  of  a  piece  of  wire  netting,  bent  into  the  form 
of  a  cylinder,  and  covered  top  and  bottom,  and  in 
which  I  put  any  small  live  things  which  I  captured 
and  needed  for  observation.  It  was  what  in  olden 
days  the  showman  used  to  call  a  "happy  family" 
that  occupied  this  cage,  but  the  happy  part  repre- 
sents only  the  showman's  way  of  putting  things. 
There  was  a  flying  squirrel  in  this  cage,  and  he 
took  a  malicious  delight  in  tormenting  the  black 
snake.  The  serpent  was  a  cautious  hunter.  He 
would  move  around  so  slowly  that  the  motion  was 
scarcely  perceptible,  in  his  attempt  to  gain  a 
vantage  ground  from  which  to  strike  and  capture 
his  tormentor,  and  his  care  and  woodcraft  deserved 
success,  but  the  quarry  was  shy  and  wise  with  the 
wisdom  of  the  wood  folks,  and  if  the  black  snake 
could  strike  quickly  the  squirrel  could  jump  even 
more  swiftly  than  the  snake  could  strike.  Time 
and  time  again  the  squirrel  crept  chattering  down 
the  sides. of  the  cage  until  he  had  tempted  the 
black  snake  to  spring  at  him — if  you  can  use  such 


THE  SNAKE  WAS  FORCED  TO 
OPEN  UP  KNOT  AND  SHOW 
BETTER  ITS  CONSTRUCTION 

(Note  the  knot  on  forearm) 


THE  SNAKE   WHIPS  ITS  TAIL 
AROUND  MY  WRIST 


A  BABY  SNAKE  FROM  SOUTH  AMERICA 


4i2  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

an  expression  to  designate  the  motion,  which  was 
simply  a  sudden  straightening  out  of  a  loop  made 
in  the  shiny  black  neck — and,  although  the  snake's 
motion  when  attacking  was  apparently  as  rapid  as 
that  of  the  shutter  of  a  camera, 

HIS  POOR  NOSE 

would  come  with  a  bang  against  the  hard,  unyield- 
ing wires,  and  the  squirrel  would  be  in  the  top  of 
the  cage  ready  to  repeat  the  manoeuver.  At  last, 
in  sheer  pity  for  the  snake's  wounded  nose,  I  took 
the  reptile  by  the  tail  and  pulled  him  from  the  cage 
and  tossed  him  down  on  the  damp  ground  under 
the  ferns,  where  he  might  find  life,  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness  without  the  company  of 
flying  squirrels.  He  was  a  fine  specimen  of  black 
snake.  Every  motion  of  his  glistening  body  be- 
tokened strength  and  grace,  and  I  was  very  anxious 
to  make  a  careful  study  of  him,  for  I  have  none 
among  my  sketches,  but,  because  of  the  unceasing 
persecution  of  the  flying  squirrel,  I  liberated  my 
model  and  allowed  it  to  escape. 

I  will  not  vouch  for  the  absolute  truthfulness 
of  the  following  story,  and  I  fail  to  recollect 
seeing  anywhere  an  account  of  a  jewelry  shop  in 
the  Garden  of  Eden,  although  all  accounts  men- 
tion 

ADAM  AND  EVE  AND  THE  SERPENT. 

But  this  is  a  new  version  of  the  serpent  inci- 
dent. It  seems  that  after  Adam  and  Eve  had  lived 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  413 

happily  for  some  time  together  Eve  had  a  yearn- 
ing for  an  affinity,  or  possibly  her  life  was  too 
monotonous,  and  things  ran  too  smoothly  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden;  the  life  there  lacked  excitement 
and  was  absolutely  devoid  of  gossip.  At  any  rate, 
so  the  story  goes 

EVE  MET  THE  SERPENT 

one  day  when  Adam  was  not  with  her.  Of  course 
if  Adam  had  been  a  man  of  pluck  and  had  been 
present  he  would  have  taken  a  stick  and  killed  the 
snake  as  his  descendants  have  been  doing  ever  since, 
but  according  to  the  legend  Adam  was  mooning 
about  somewhere  else  in  the  garden  when  he 
should  have  been  at  home  with  his  wife.  The  ser- 
pent, taking  advantage  of  Adam's  absence,  twisted 
himself  up  in  such  beautiful  spirals  and  made  such 
pretty  compliments  that  he  completely  won  the 
good  lady's  heart.  Then  it  was  that  he  boldly 
asked  her  for  her  wedding  ring.  "But  you  have 
no  hands,"  exclaimed  Eve,  coquettishly,  "and  hav- 
ing no  hands  you  have  no  ring  finger.  What  shall 
I  do?  Shall  I  slip  it  over  your  tail?" 

"No,  no,"  replied  the  serpent.  "It  would  be  in 
the  way  there.  Slip  it  over  my  head  and  I  will 
wear  it  as  a  necklace." 

Eve  did  as  she  was  bid  and  to  this  day  you  can 
find  Madam  Eve's  wedding  ring  of  shining  gold 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


GARTER  SNAKE  AND   ELEVEN   EGGS    CUT   FROM   IT 
ON  EVERY  RING-NECKED  SNAKE. 

On  the  same  colored  page  with  the  water  snake 
and  the  eggs,  you  will  find  some  drawings  of  the 
ring-necked  snake  and  its  eggs.  This  is  a  gentle, 
inoffensive  little  reptile  and  like  the  green  snake 
it  may  be  handled  with  perfect  safety.  While  clear- 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  415 

ing  a  piece  of  ground  near  Wild  Lands  for  the  pur- 
pose of  erecting  a  cabin  I  was  picking  up  the  stones 
and  casting  them  in  a  heap  we  used  for  a  founda- 
tion. In  a  space  fifty  by  fifty  feet  I  found  over 
a  dozen  of  these  little  snakes.  If  they  are  as  plenti- 
ful as  this  all  over  the  country  a  little  calculation 
will  show  you  what  immense  numbers  of  these  little 
insect-eating  creatures  inhabit  the  unimproved  land. 
Snakes  are  very  much  more  plentiful  than  the 
majority  of  people  imagine,  and  some  varieties  are 

TO  BE  FOUND  EVEN  IN  OUR  CITY  STREETS. 

The  little  brown  snake  known  as  De  Kay's  snake, 
from  which  the  drawing  on  page  422  is  made,  I 
picked  up  on  the  sidewalk  on  Amity  Street,  in 
Flushing,  Borough  of  Queens,  New  York  City.  I 


FOOD  OF  THE  LITTLE  BROWN  SNAKE 


4i  6  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

have  often  found  these  snakes  in  my  cellar  and  the 
flower-beds  of  our  yard.  It  was  not  until  Dit- 
mar's  book  was  written  that  people  knew  that 
there  were  snakes  living  wild  even  in  Manhattan 
itself.  The  De  Kay  snake  eats  slugs.  Now  this 
interests  me  very  deeply  because  I  have  made 

SOME  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  SLUGS 

as  an  article  of  food.  I  tempted  a  pet  robin  to 
try  one,  but  the  slime  from  the  slug  entangled  the 
bill  and  legs  of  the  little  bird,  like  a  strong  spider 
web,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  bird  would  have 
perished  had  I  not  personally  and  with  some  dif- 
ficulty freed  it  from  its  bonds.  I  next 

GAVE  A  SLUG  TO  A  PET  TURTLE. 

It  was  a  small  turtle,  a  little  smaller  than  the  saucer 
to  an  after-dinner  coffee  cup,  but  it  had  a  voracious 
appetite,  and  a  firm  conviction  that  it  was  able  to 
eat  any  live  thing  that  wiggled.  After  two  or 
three  bites  at  the  slug  its  head  was  completely  en- 
tangled with  the  slime.  The  turtle  made  desperate 
efforts  with  its  front  feet  to  free  itself,  the  only 
effect  being  that  of  entangling  its  feet  in 

THE   SAME   STRINGY   MUCOUS   WEB, 

so  I  was  compelled  to  take  the  turtle  out  of  the 
aquarium,,  and  carefully  remove  the  slug  slime.  It 
was  a  sadder  and  a  wiser  turtle  that  I  returned  to 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  417 

the  aquarium.  I  next  caught  a  garden  mole.  As  I 
had  always  been  taught  that  moles  fed  upon  angle- 
worms and  grubs,  I  reasoned  that  it  might  like 
slugs.  The  mole  did  make  an  attempt  to  eat  the 
one  I  offered  it,  but  I  never  freed  the  mole  from 
the  slime,  the  reason  being  that  the  stuff  seemed  to 
drive  the  animal  crazy,  and  it  escaped. 

With  its  funny  nose  held  high  in  air  the  animal 
tried  to  run  across  the  lawn,  making  no  attempt 
to  burrow  in  the  ground,  but  uttering  a  series  of 
rat-like  squeaks,  it  disappeared  under  some  bushes 
in  the  corner  of  the  fence,  where  I  was  unable  for 
some  time  to  find  it.  Although  uninjured  by  me 
the  mole  only  lived  a  short  time  after  it  was 
rescued. 

Slugs  will  eat  the  vegetables  in  your  garden  and 
I  imagine  do  considerable 

DAMAGE  TO  THE   FLOWER  GARDENS, 

for  in  New  Orleans  I  noticed  upon  various  oc- 
casions people  engaged  in  killing  slugs  which  they 
found  among  their  flowering  plants.  It  is  the  only 
creature  of  which  I  know  that  can  be 

CAUGHT  BY  PUTTING  SALT  ON  ITS  TAIL, 

and  that  seems  to  be  the  regular  method  of  killing 
them  in  the  South. 

The  reason  for  this  digression  from  the  subject 
of  snakes  is  the  fact  that  if  any  of  these  little 
snakes  eat  slugs  it  would  appear  that  it  might  be 


4i 8  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

cheaper  to  cultivate  snakes  in  your  garden  than 
waste  your  salt  upon  the  slugs.  The  little 

RED-BELLIED  BROWN  SNAKE 

shown  on  the  colored  plate  is  a  pretty  little  creature 
very  nearly  akin  to  the  De  Kay  snake;  is  abso- 
lutely harmless  and  also  makes  a  valuable  addition 
to  your  flower  garden. 

THE  SENSELESS   HORROR 

which  so  many  people  have  of  all  snakes  is  almost 
as  foolish  as  the  habit  that  some  others  have  of 
frightening  nervous  people  with  these  creatures. 
Little  children  and  even  nervous  grown  people 
have  been  made  seriously  ill,  sometimes  with  fatal 
results,  caused  by  unthinking  boys  running  after 
them  with  snakes  in  their  hands  or 

THROWING  THE  REPTILES  AT  THEM, 

which  reminds  me  of  an  amusing  incident  which 
occurred  to  myself.  A  friend  of  mine  brought  me 
from  South  America 

A  BABY  CONSTRICTOR, 

which  I  kept  for  some  weeks  in  my  studio,  but 
each  man  who  visited  the  studio  seemed  to  delight 
in  tormenting  the  poor  snake,  so  one  cold  winter 
day  when  I  started  for  home  I  put  the 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  419 

SNAKE  IN  MY  OVERCOAT  POCKET 

and  put  my  fur  glove  on  top  of  it  to  keep  it  warm 
and  then  promptly  forgot  all  about  it.  At  James' 
Slip  I  bought  an  evening  paper,  went  aboard  the 
ferryboat,  entered  the  cabin  and  took  my  seat  about 
in  the  center  of  the  long  bench  against  the  cabin 
wall.  Under  this  bench  there  were  a  number  of 
steam  pipes  used  for  heating  the  cabin  and  they 
often  made  the  seats  uncomfortably  warm  to  sit 
upon.  We  had  gone  about  half  way  on  our  journey 
from  James'  Slip  to  Hunter's  Point,  as  the  land- 
ing at  Long  Island  City  was  then  called,  and  the 
man  on  my  left  looked  at  me  with  the  most  pe- 
culiar expression  on  his  face,  then  quickly  got  up, 
crossed  the  cabin  and  sat  down  upon  the  opposite 
side.  I  would  have  thought  nothing  of  this  had 
not  the  man  upon  my  right  behaved  in  the  same 
manner;  then  a  big,  fat  woman  who  was  next  to 
him  hurriedly  left  her  seat  to  take  one  upon  the 
opposite  side  of  the  cabin.  There  was  a  full  head 
of  steam  on  in  the  heating  pipes,  and  I  at  first 
thought  that  the  bench  was 

GETTING  TOO  HOT  FOR  THESE  PEOPLE, 

but  that  fact  did  not  explain  the  look  of  indignant 
horror  with  which  each  one  greeted  me  as  they 
left  their  seats.  I  was  not  responsible  for  the 
steam  pipes  nor  the  excessive  heat.  When  at  last 
I  was  left  alone  on  my  side  of  the  cabin,  and  found 
all  the  passengers  upon  the  opposite  side  staring 


420  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

at  me,  I  felt  embarrassed.  I  tried  to  read  my 
paper,  but  I  could  feel  all  those  eyes  boring 
through  the  paper.  I  twisted  my  mustache,  wiped 
off  my  chin,  pulled  down  my  vest,  and  went 
through  all  the  motions  a  man  does  when  he  is 
embarrassed,  but  derived  no  relief  from  it.  At 
last  I  stood  up  to  rearrange  my  clothes,  and  in 
spreading  my  coat-tails  preparatory  to  seating  my- 
self 

MY  HAND  STRUCK  SOMETHING  COLD. 

Looking  down  at  my  pocket  I  saw  about  a  half- 
yard  of  snake  sticking  out  and  swinging  backward 
and  forward  with  vibrating  tongue,  fascinating  my 
fellow-passengers.  I  hastily  thrust  the  snake  back 
in  my  pocket,  put  the  other  fur  glove  on  top  of 
it,  regained  my  composure  and  proceeded  to 
read  my  paper.  Over  in  the  starboard  corner  of 
the  cabin  I  noticed  a  friend  of  mine,  a  frequent 
visitor  to  my  studio,  he  was  convulsed  with 
laughter,  but  I  paid  no  attention  to  him.  The  next 
day  as  I  was  standing  on  the  bow  of  the  same  boat 
with  a  group  of  gentlemen,  all  returning  from  their 
day's  work,  among  them  was  the  man  I  had  seen 
in  the  corner  of  the  cabin  the  night  before,  and 
he  entertained  the  crowd  by  a  very  humorous  ac- 
count of  the  occurrence,  ending  up  by  saying:  "I 
bet  five  dollars 

HE'S  GOT  A  SNAKE  IN  HIS  POCKET 

now/1  With  that  he  thrust  his  hand  in  my  over- 
coat pocket  and 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  4-1 

INSTANTLY    UTTERED    A    YELL 

which  could  be  heard  across  the  East  River.  He 
had  not  won  his  bet;  there  was  no  snake  in  my 
pocket,  but  on  my  way  to  the  ferry  I  had  passed 
through  Fulton  Market  and  Eugene  Blackford, 
the  fish  merchant,  had  called  me  into  his  office  to 
show  me  some  extraordinarily  large  crawfish.  As 
I  left  he  presented  me  with  one,  and  having  no 
better  place  to  carry  it  I  put  it  in  the  pocket  of 
my  coat. 

THE  CRAWFISH 

was  as  large  as  a  young  lobster,  and  its  claws  were 
as  strong.  With  its  sharp,  muscular  pincer  fas- 
tened on  my  friend's  finger,  it  brought  the  blood, 
made  a  painful  wound,  and  taught  him  to  keep 
his  hands  in  his  own  pocket.  As  the  gentleman  was 
a  Wall  Street  man,  this  lesson  did  not  seem  very 
inappropriate. 

Jn  all  the  foregoing  illustrations  of 

SNAKES'  EGGS, 

all  but  one  of  those  represented  hatch  inside  the 
mother  snake,  the  young  being  born  alive;  but  in 
the  last  illustration  are  shown  four  eggs  of  the 
milk  snake.  These  eggs  are  laid  like  a  hen's 
egg  and  hatch  like  turtle's  eggs.  On  the  i6th  of 
July,  the  milk  snake  which  we  had,  laid  six  oblong 
white  eggs  with  leather-like  shells,  which,  as  they 
became  dry,  sunk  in  at  the  sides  as  shown  by  the 


THE  MILK  SNAKE  LAID   SIX  OBLONG   MILK-WHITE  EGGS 
WITH   LEATHER-LIKE  SHELL 


LITTLE  BROWN  SNAKE  WITH  DETAIL  OF  PARTS 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  423 

lower  two  in  the  drawing.  The  upper  two  show 
the  eggs  the  exact  shape  and  size  they  were  when 
laid. 

While  speaking  of  the  exact  size,  it  may  be  well 
to  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the  fact  that 
all  the  original  drawings  of  small  creatures  in  this 
book  are  made  exactly  life  size,  but  have  been  re- 
duced in  photo  engravings  to  suit  the  size  of  the 
book.  The  original  drawings  are  all  made  on 
sheets  of  paper  ten  inches  wide  by  fourteen  inches 
long.  These  proportions  will  .help  you  to  get  the 
correct  size  of  the  objects  shown. 

THE  RED-BELLIED  SNAKE 

shown  in  the  illustration  was  caught  in  July  and 
contained  seven  eggs.  In  one  of  the  water  snakes 
there  were  thirty-three  eggs  and  in  the  one  killed 
on  August  19,  from  which  the  drawings  on  the 
colored  plate  were  made  there  were  only  eighteen 
eggs. 

Pike  County  has  the  reputation  of  having  more 
snakes  in  it  than  any  place  in  the  United  States, 
especially  rattlesnakes,  but  in  twenty  summers  spent 
roaming  around  the  woods,  swamps  and  quarries, 
I  have  never  met  but  five  live  rattlesnakes.  Once 
I  was  on  my  way  with  my  field  glasses  in  hand  to 
the  shore  of  Big  Tink  Pond.  I  had  heard  the  old 
eagle  across  the  lake  whistling.  All  of  us  "Pikers" 
have  learned  to  know  this  bird  by  the  name  of 
Uncle  Sam.  When  he's  up  to  some  mischief,  this 


424  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

old  eagle  always  gives  some  preparatory  whistles 
before  he  can  decide  upon  action,  so  when 
I  heard  him,  I  grabbed  my  glasses  and  started  for 
the  shore  of  the  pond.  As  I  was  hurrying  along 
I  was  conscious  of 

SOMETHING  MOVING  ALONGSIDE  OF  THE  PATH, 

and  as  is  my  habit  under  such  circumstances  I  im- 
mediately stood  perfectly  still,  then  turned  my  head 
very  slowly  and  carefully  to  search  for  the  object. 
As  I  looked  around  I  saw  within  a  few  inches  of 
my  foot  a  beautifully  spotted 

YELLOW  AND  BROWN  SNAKE 

which  I  at  first  glance  mistook  for  a  milk  snake, 
then  I  noticed  the  snake's  head  and  it  was  that  of 
a  rattlesnake.  More  careful  inspection  disclosed 
the  fact  that 


THE  SNAKE'S  TAIL  WAS  VIBRATING 


in  an  alarming  manner.  There  was  not  the  least 
doubt  of  it.  The  snake  within  a  few  inches  of  my 
feet  was  a  rattlesnake,  which  had  just  shed  its  skin. 
We  had  had  incessant  rains  for  more  than  a  week 
and  although  the  snake  moved  its  tail  as  rapidly 
as  possible  the  rattle  would  not  rattle ;  and  no  noise 
that  I  could  hear  proceeded  from  it.  I  have  often 
heard  that  rattlesnakes  during  continued  wet 
weather 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  425 

CAN  MAKE  NO  NOISE  WITH  THEIR  RATTLE, 

but  this  is  the  first  instance  of  that  fact  coming 
under  my  observation.  This  snake  made  no  at- 
tempt to  strike  me,  although  I  stood  perfectly  still 
within  a  few  inches  of  its  nose,  but  I  was  less  for- 
tunate in  my  next  encounter.  I  had  been  over  to 
Forest  Lake  Club  and  was  walking  back  through 
the  short-cut  trail  when  I  saw  a  yellow-billed 
cuckoo  in  the  path,  and  walking  sideways  to  get 
a  better  view  I  suddenly  heard 

THE  DRY  BUZZING  NOISE  OF  A  RATTLESNAKE; 

turning  around  to  locate  the  sound,  I  was  just  in 
time  to  see  the  pinkish  white  mouth  of  the  villain 
as  he  struck  viciously  at  my  legs.  I  gave  an  in- 
voluntary grunt  and  jumped  backwards.  The 
snake's  nose  struck  my  trousers  with  considerable 
force,  but  strange  to  say  its  fangs  did  not  catch  in 
the  cloth. 

Immediately  after  the  attack  the  snake  fled  into 
the  underbrush;  I  followed,  but  when  I  stopped 
to  pick  up  a  stone,  the  reptile  had  disappeared  and 
I  lost  it. 

"DON'T  TREAD  ON  ME." 

It  is  the  only  time  that  I  ever  felt  like  killing 
even  a  snake ;  but  it  was  not  the  snake's  fault,  for 
had  it  not  attacked  me  it  would  have  been  trampled 
upon  the  next  step  I  took.  It  only  defended  itself. 


426  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

One  day  I  was  hurrying  down  to  catch  the 
James'  Slip  Ferry;  passing  through  Roosevelt 
Street  I  approached  the  wild  animal  store  which 
used  to  be  there,  and  was  astonished  to  see  a  big 
policeman  with  a  sudden  leap  dash  into  the  store. 

Anticipating  an  adventure,  I  followed  close  upon 
his  heels,  but  when  I  reached  the  interior  the  ani- 
mals all  seemed  quiet  in  their  cages  and  the  pro- 
prietor was  seated  on  a  low,  flat  box  in  the  middle 
of  the  floor.  No  one  was  excited  but  the  guardian 
of  the  peace.  The  big  policeman's  eyes  were  as 
large  as  those  of  a  giant  squid;  turning  to  me  he 
said:  "Did  you  see  that?" 

"What?"  I  asked. 

"Great  jumping  Jerusalem!  Didn't  youse  see 
it?" 

"No,"  I  replied.  "I'm  afraid  that  I  was  too 
late;  what  was  it?" 

"Why,"  said  the  excited  policeman, 


"THERE  WAS  A  SARPENT  LOOSE 


there  wid  a  body  as  thick  through  as  me  own,  and 
as  long  as  a  fire  engine  hose." 

I  looked  warily  around  the.  shop  to  see  if  the 
"sarpent"  was  not  hid  in  some  dark  corner,  but 
there  was  not  a  snake  in  sight.  A  belted  peccary 
near  the  door  was  eating  peanuts;  a  mangy  mon- 
key with  a  pathetic  face  was  busy  picking  dust 
out  of  a  crack  in  the  floor  in  the  rear  of  the  store; 
the  birds,  raccoons,  white  mice,  and  guinea  pigs, 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  427 

were  busy  feeding  or  scratching  themselves. 
I  turned  to  the  policeman.    "Officer,"  said  I, 

"WHERE  is  THE  SNAKE?" 

"In  that  box,"  he  replied,  pointing  to  the  one 
upon  which  the  proprietor  was  seated. 

"When  I  jumped  into  the  door,"  said  the  officer, 
"the  big  sarpent  was  right  over  there.  It  was 
coiled  up  ready  to  strike  and  held  its  head  six  feet 
from  the  floor;  it  opened  its  mouth  as  wide  as  I 
can  open  my  hand,  and  then  sprung  right  at  that 
man.  What  did  he  do?  Why  he  just  struck  out 
and  ketched  the  snake  by  the  neck  and  with  the 
same  motion  of  his  arm  swung  the  thing  around 
and  brought  it  ker-slap  into  that  box,  then  before 
the  snake  knowed  what  it  was  doing,  he  clapped 
the  board  on  the  box  and  sat  on  it." 

"That's  just  where  I  came  in  the  store;  but  hon- 
est, officer,  how  big  was  that  snake?" 

"HE'S  A  PRETTY  BIG  ONE," 

said  the  proprietor.  "He's  a  python,  a  new  one 
that  has  just  come  in.  He  made  his  escape  from 
the  box  before  I  noticed  it.  But  you  can  have  a 
look  at  him,"  and  with  that  the  man  got  up,  and 
began  to  lift  the  board  from  the  box,  but  before 
he  could  do  so  the  policeman  and  I  both  made  a 
bolt  for  the  door. 

"Oh!  hold  on,"  said  the  man,  "they're  all  quiet 
now,  they  will  not  hurt  you;"  and  with  that  he 


428  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

removed  the  lid  from  the  box  displaying  to  our 
astonished  view  not  one,  but  half  a  dozen  im- 
mense serpents.  They  were  not  as  long  as  a  fire 
engine  hose  nor  had  they  the  girth  of  the  portly 
policeman,  but  they  were  as  large  as  any  that  1 
had  ever  seen,  fully  large  enough  to  excite  my  re- 
spect. I  asked  the  storekeeper  if  they  were  not 
very  heavy,  and  he  invited  me  to  take  hold  of  one 
and  test  its  weight.  I  started  to  do  so,  but  the 
snakes  began  to  move  in  the  box  and  I  suddenly 
remembered  that 

I  MUST  CATCH  THE  JAMES'  SLIP  FERRY  ! 

On  June  3rd.  Mrs.  Beard  and  I  went  after 
blue  lupin  with  a  pick-axe  with  which  to  dig,  and  an 
old  pan  tied  to  a  string  as  a  cart  in  which  to  haul 
the  plants  home.  In  front  of  our  next-door 
neighbor,  Willis  P.  Sweatnam,  my  wife  screamed, 
"rattlesnake!"  Looking  quickly  around,  I  saw  a 
beautiful  large  black  snake;  the  next  moment  I  saw 
another  one  alongside  of  the  road.  We  passed  on 
and  left  them,  but,  on  pur  way  back  we 
saw  them  again;  one  ran  into  Sweatnam's 
wall  and  another  ran  ahead  of  us  down 
the  road,  and  I  took  after  it,  and  after  a  hot 
chase,  caught  the  snake  and  discovered  why  my 
wife  thought  it  was  a  rattlesnake.  It  had  a  way 
of  vibrating  its  tail  like  a  rattlesnake,  -and  when 
it  did  this,  among  dry  leaves  the  sound  was  alarm- 
ingly similar  to  the  dry  rattle  of  the  rattlesnake. 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  429 

SAVE  ALL  LIVE  HOOP-SNAKES. 

I  received  a  very  interesting  letter  from  a  man 
in  the  State  of  Washington,  who  claims  not  only 
to  have  seen 

TWO   HOOP-SNAKES, 

but  to  have  killed  one  himself.  Unfortunately  he 
requested  me  not  to  publish  his  letter  and  I  must 
hold  such  requests  sacred.  It  can  be  said,  however, 
without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  there  are  prob- 
ably many — very  many  people — who  have  seen, 
not  only  hoop-snakes,  but  have  seen  the  hazel-rod 
turn  in  the  hand  of  a  diviner  and  point  to  the  water 
beneath,  though  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  the 
water  would  have  been  found  just  the  same  with- 
out the  mummery  of  the  forked  hazel  twig  and 
its  appeal  to  the  aid  of  the  old  god  Thor.  Hoop- 
snakes,  hazel-rods,  lucky  stones,  horseshoes,  and 
the  thread  of  red  worsted  which  the  old  peasant 
woman  still  ties  to  her  cow's  tail  before  sending  it 
out  to  pasture,  all  these  are  heirlooms  from  the 
faith  of  our  superstitious  ancestors,  who  lived  in 
a  world  in  which  fairies  and  gnomes,  hobgoblins, 
witches  and  mermaids, 

THE  UNICORN  AND  THE  SEA  SERPENT 

played  a  very  real  part. 

Under  the  fierce,  cold  electric  light  of  this  age 
of  scientific  investigation,  these  things  in  which  our 


430  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ancestors  believed  so  implicitly  have  no  place  ex- 
cept in  books  of  folk-lore,  or  in  children's  books, 
where  the  hoop-snake  may  find  a  congenial  com- 
panion with 

MOTHER  GOOSE'S  COW, 

that  jumped  over  the  moon. 

Yet  I  freely  acknowledge  that  I  love  Mother 
Goose,  Baron  Munchausen,  and  all  their  family 
and  friends,  and  am  in  sympathy  with  the  New 
York  Sun  when  it  says : 

"It  is  a  cheerful  belief  that  it  would  be  a  pity 
to  discard  into  the  lumber  room  of  the  things  that 
once  held  faith.  The  most  appreciative  account  of 
the  water  finder's  rod  is  in  Dr.  Herbert  Mayo's 
work,  'Letters  on  Truth  Contained  in  Popular 
Superstitions'  (London,  1851).  The  work  is  most 
cordial  in  its  tone  towards  these  old  beliefs  of 
the  lowly,  and  is  a  mine  of  curious  information." 

A  very  interesting  and  complete  account  of  old 
superstitions  probably  more  judicious  than  the 
former,  is  Folkard's  "Plant-lore,  Legends  and 
Lyrics." 

Since  so  much  has  been  said  about  the  hoop- 
snake  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  correct  description 
of  it  so  that  if  any  of  my  readers  have  been  drink- 
ing too  much  coffee  or  in  any  other  manner  have 
upset  their  nerves,  so  that  they  dream  of  snakes, 
they  may  be  able  to  recognize  the  cele- 
brated hoop-snake  when  it  appears.  The  hoop- 


SNAKES  AND  SNAKE  STORIES  431 

snake  according  to  the  best  authorities  wears  a 
horn  on  the  end  of  its  tail.  No  one  has  correctly 
described  its  color,  markings,  or  teeth,  but  they 
have  all  been  particular  to  describe  the  horns. 
Hoop-snakes  frequent  hilly  countries ;  I  don't  know 
how  it  gets  up  a  hill,  and  have  never  seen  any  de- 
scription of  this  act.  Somehow  or  other  it  is 
always  at  the  top  of  a  hill,  and  prefers  one  with 
a  steep  road.  When  it  sees  anyone  approaching, 
it  sticks  its  tail  in  its  mouth,  makes  a  hoop  of  it- 
self and  commences  to  roll  down  hill  with  a  greater 
speed  than  a  coasting  bicycle.  This  is  the  time  for 
you  to  wake  up;  if  the  snake  reaches  you,  it  will 
let  go  its  tail,  and 

STRIKE  YOU  WITH  THE  POISONOUS  HORN 

with  fatal  results.  Down  South  when  a  hoop-snake 
rolls  down  hill  and  is  disappointed  in  not  finding 
any  victims,  it  will  strike  a  tree  with  its  horn,  and 
the  tree  immediately  withers  and  dies.  You  will 
find  plenty  of  people  to  vouch  for  the  truthfulness 
of  this  account,  and  many  who  would  be  willing  to 
make  affidavit  that  they  have  seen  one  of  these 
snakes.  Nevertheless  the  snake  and  the  mermaid, 
and  the  devil's  darning-needle  that  sews  up  your 
ears,  the  swallows  that  sleep  in  the  mud  all  win- 
ter, the  poisonous  swifts  and  centaurs  belong  in  the 
same  nature  books  with  the  unicorns  and  fiery 
dragons.  These  are  all  exceedingly  interesting 
creatures,  but  they  must  be  understood  as  existing 
only  in  Nemo's  Dreamland. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED   LIES 

AMBROSE  PAKE'S  TOAD  YARN — WERE  THERE  NATURE  FAKIRS 
IN  THE  GARDEN  OF  EDEN  ? — GEORGE  WILSON  WALLS  UP  A 
TOAD — LIVE  FROG  SIX  HUNDRED  FEET  UNDER  GROUND — 
THE  TOAD'S  EYES  SHONE  WITH  UNUSUAL  BRILLIANCY — 
WAS  PLINY  A  NATURE  FAKIR  ? — DR.  BUCKLAND's  EXPERI- 
MENTS— THE  AUTHOR'S  BULLFROG — FROGS  DEVOUR  OTHER 

FROGS,  INSECTS  AND  ANYTHING  THAT  WIGGLES — FROGS 
WILL  NOT  WILLINGLY  EAT  DEAD  ANIMALS — BATTLE 
BETWEEN  FROG  AND  MOUSE — FROG  ATTEMPTS  TO  EAT 
A  GREAT  HORNED  OWL — GIGANTIC  TOADS  OF  SWAN 
RIVER — A  TOAD  STONE  OF  MACDONALD  RIVER — A 
TOAD  WITH  THREE  FRONT  LEGS  AND  A  TOAD  WITH 
THREE  HIND  LEGS — COWS  WITH  SIX  LEGS — NEW  ZEALAND 
FROG  WITH  SIX  LEGS — TWO-HEADED  TURTLE — FREAK 
FISHES — A  DANIEL  BOONE  LAND  TORTOISE — AN  INTEMPER 
ATE  TOAD PHOTOGRAPHING  A  TOAD  IN  THE  ACT  OF  SING- 
ING— TOAD  CATCHES  GOLD  FISH — HOW  LONG  DOES  A  TOAD 
LIVE  ? 

There  have  been  so  many  nature  fake  stories 
told  about  frogs  and  toads,  and  these  stories  have 
been  received  with  such  faith  by  even  intelligent 
ople  that  it  makes  it  dangerous  for  one  to  tell  the 
th.    For  a- well  established  lie  is  much  preferred 
the  multitude  to  an  aggressive  self-seeking  truth, 
'  the  lies  about  frogs  are  many  of  them  so  old 
nd  venerable  that  we  must  treat  them  with  defer- 
ence and  respect  for  fear  of  shocking  the  sensibili- 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  433 


ties  of  our  readers. 
As  an  example,  there 
is  an  account  of  old 
Ambrose  Pare,  who 
should  have  been  a 
scientific  man  because 
he  held  the  position 
of  chief  surgeon  to 
Henry  III.  of  France, 
but  Pare  really  be- 
longed to  the  hoop- 
snake  crowd  of 
scientists.  Pare  said 
that  while  he  was 
overlooking  a  quarry, 
he  saw  a  man  break 
an  exceedingly  hard 
and  large  stone,  and  discovered  in  the  middle  of 
it  a  very  big  and  very  lively  toad.  This  is 
not  the  first  time  this  lie  has  been  told.  Adam 
probably  told  it  to  Eve,  and  maybe  the  stone  that 
David  used  had  a  toad  in  it.  On  the  2ist  of  May, 
1793,  a  man  named  George  Wilson  walled  a  toad 
up  in  some  masonry  upon  which  he  was  at  work, 
and  it  is  claimed  that  sixteen  years  afterwards  the 
toad  was  found  still  to  be  alive.  The  truth  is  that 
an  ordinary  toad  will  not  live  in  a  dwelling  house 
more  than  two  or  three  days  at  the  most;  the  toad 
needs  moisture  and  will  dry  up  if  confined  to  an 
ordinary  living  room;  this  any  of  you  can  prove 
by  experiment. 


BIG  TINK  TOAD. 


SOME    INTERESTING    FROGS 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  435 

Early  in  1862  a  man  claimed  that  six  hundred 
feet  under  ground  in  a  nine-inch  bed  of  coal  he 
found  a  live  frog.  The  frog  was  probably  there 
and  got  there  the  same  way  as  did  the  man.  In 
1731  a  toad  was  found  in  a  heart  of  an  oak  tree 
near  Natz.  Some  cheerful  story  tellers  about  forty 
years  ago  claimed  that  while  working  on  the  Hat- 
tlepool  waterworks,  they  found  a  toad  embedded 
in  a  solid  block  of  limestone.  "The  toad's  eyes 
shone  with  unusual  brilliancy,"  as  well  they  might. 
The  creature  continued  for  some  time  in  the  pos- 
session of  Mr.  Spence  Horner,  President  of  the 
Natural  History  Society,  but  I  find  no  record  of 
Mr.  Spence  Horner's  vouching  for  this  story. 

Nevertheless,  people  will  go  on  believing  in  these 
wonderful  toad  stories  for  hundreds  of  years  to 
come.  The  great  and  learned  Pliny  was  as  credu- 
lous as  is  a  small  boy  of  today,  and  some  of  his 
nature  fake  stories  have  gone  down  through  the 
centuries  and  are  still  accepted  as  truth  by  many 
people,  yet  any  one  can  by  experiment,  prove  the 
fallacy  of  these  stories.  Over  a  century  ago  mem- 
bers of  the  French  Academy  by  experiments  proved 
that  neither  frogs  nor  toads  could  live  in  air-tight 
enclosures.  Miline  Edwards,  early  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  enclosed  some  frogs  in  air-tight  ves- 
sels. The  frogs,  of  course,  turned  up  their  feet 
and  died.  A  certain  Dr.  McCartney  put  a  toad  in 
a  vessel  and  covered  it  with  a  piece  of  slate  and 
buried  it  in  the  ground,  but  the  slate  admitted  both 
air  and  moisture,  and  at  the  end  of  two  weeks  the 


436  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

toad  was  discovered  to  be  perfectly  well.  The 
same  toad  put  in  an  air-tight  vessel  and  buried  for 
only  a  week's  time  was  found  to  be  so  very  dead 
that  no  one  cared  to  make  a  minute  examination  of 
it.  Dr.  Buckland  made  some  experiments  in  1825 
with  the  same  results.  The  many  experiments,  how- 
ever, have  proved  that  frogs  will  live  and  thrive 
for  a  considerable  length  of  time  if  kept  moist  and 
damp ;  even  though  they  are  buried  at  considerable 
depth,  without  any  visible  food  supply  and  in  com- 
plete darkness.  I  once  kept  a  large  bull-frog  for 
several  years.  It  was  one  sultry  day  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1879  that  I  sent  a  boy  down  to  a  Fulton 
Street  aquarium  store,  to  secure  me  a  model  for  a 
picture  which  I  had  received  a  commission  to  paint; 
the  boy  returned,  bringing  with  him  a  most 
peculiar  individual. 

A  pair  of  bright  gem-like  eyes  and  a  blunt  nose, 
together  with  a  broad,  tightly  closed  mouth,  made 
up  a  countenance  not  to  be  easily  forgotten;  and 
his  odd-shaped  head  rested  closely  upon  his 
shoulders.  Add  to  this  a  pair  of  short  arms  ter- 
minating in  hands  of  four  fingers  each  and  dispro- 
portionately long  legs,  to  which  were  attached  very 
broad  feet,  and  you  have  before  you  a  picture  of 
my  model. 

Although  a  musician  by  birth  and  occupation, 
he  is  known  to  the  schoolboy  as  the  bull-frog !  The 
peculiar  batrachian  whose  portrait  adorns  this  book 
was  quite  a  favorite,  in  spite  of  his  previous  bad 
character.  Although  a  tyrant  and  cannibal,  he 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  437 

numbered  among  his  personal  friends  many  well- 
known  artists  and  noted  engravers,  who  gladly  put 
aside  their  brush,  pencil  or  graver  for  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  the  frog  devour  a  crab,  bug  or  bat  that 
had  been  captured  for  him.  An  old  fish  globe  was 
brought  into  requisition,  and  through  its  transpar- 
ent wall  the  green  prisoner  stared  at  me  as  I  wrote 
this  account.  The  frog  had  fasted  in  this  crystal 
prison  for  three  weeks  before  it  occurred  to  me 
that  he  might  be  hungry.  To  make  amends  for  my 
neglect  I  spent  almost  half  a  day  chasing  blue  bot- 
tle-flies around  the  room,  but  with  indifferent  suc- 


OUTLINE   OF   RABBIT'S    HEAD   SHOWING   COMPARATIVE 
SIZE  OF  TOAD 


438  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

cess.  However,  I  captured  twenty-five  of  them,  and 
one  vicious  hornet  that  had  strayed  in  through  the 
open  window.  All  these  were  successfully  swal- 
lowed by  the  frog  in  the  most  business-like  man- 
ner. A  pink,  fleshy  tongue  would  be  visible  and 
in  an  instant  the  insect  would  disappear. 
When  he  came  to  the  hornet  the  frog  appeared 
to  think  his  food  was  rather  highly  seasoned,  for 
he  winked  his  eyes  several  times,  if  that  term  could 
be  applied  to  the  act  of  sinking  his  eyes  down  in 
his  head  and  then  popping  them  up  again. 

Next  day  he  ate  fifteen  large  flies,  two  big 
lively  katy-dids,  and  two  full-grown  fiddler  crabs. 
He  had  for  dessert  the  same  day  a  dragon  fly  and 
an  ichneumon  fly.  I  tried  him  with  raw  meat, 
but  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  touch  it  until  a 
piece  cut  to  resemble  some  insect  with  long  legs 
was  put  upon  a  straw  and  dangled  in  front  of  his 
nose;  this  he  instantly  snapped  up. 

Insects,  crustaceans,  snails,  and  small  animals, 
anything  with  life  and  not  too  large  to  be  taken 
into  the  capacious  mouth  of  this  animal,  are  greed- 
ily devoured,  even  its  own  tadpoles  and  young  frogs 
form  a  palatable  viand  for  the  parent. 

Once  I  took  a  dead  mouse  and  holding  it  in  the 
globe,  jumped  it  around  to  give  it  the  appearance 
of  life.  Without  hesitation  it  was  seized  and  de- 
voured by  the  frog  before  he  discovered  that  he 
had  been  swindled  by  a  corpse.  He  then  opened 
his  mouth  and  with  his  fore  feet  deliberately  pulled 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  439 

out  the  obnoxious  mouse  in  a  manner  that  set  the 
spectators  in  a  roar  of  laughter.  Since  then  he  has 
devoured  many  live  mice  with  apparent  relish,  all 
of  which  he  swallowed  tail  foremost,  keeping  up 
a  lively  kicking  and  scratching  with  fore  and  hind 
feet  to  prevent  his  prey  from  curling  up  and  bit- 
ing. Enough  water  is  always  kept  in  the  globe  to 
keep  its  inmate  moist,  but  too  shallow  to  drown 
a  mouse.  The  wily  batrachian  is  well  aware  of 
this  fact,  for  it  was  not  until  nothing  but  the 
head  and  forefeet  of  the  mouse  protruded  from 
between  his  jaws  that  he  bent  his  head  down, 
holding  it  and  the  mouse  under  water  until  the 
latter  was  suffocated  before  it  was  finally  gulped 
down.  Partly  to  make  a  more  even  fight  and 
partly  as  an  experiment  to  see  what  the  frog  would 
do  under  the  circumstances,  before  putting 
in  a  large  male  mouse,  we  emptied  all  the 
water  from  the  globe.  Then  ensued  a  chase ;  round 
and  round  went  the  mouse,  trying  in  vain  to  scale 
the  glassy  walls,  but  never  missing  an  opportunity 
to  give  the  frog  a  savage  nip  with  its  sharp  teeth. 
Round  and  round  plunged  the  batrachian  after 
him.  Once  he  caught  the  mouse  by  the  tail,  where- 
upon the  mouse  turned  and  mounted  the  slimy 
back  of  his  enemy  and  bit  him  severely;  but  quicker 
than  thought  the  powerful  hind  leg  of  the  fro^ 
swept  the  mouse  from  his  back  and  dashed  it 
viciously  against  the  side  of  the  globe. 

The  battle  had  commenced  and  lasted  about  five 
minutes,  when  by  a  lucky  snap  the  frog  got  the 


POSES    ASSUMED    BY    MY   MOUSE    EATING    FROG 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  441 

mouse  by  the  hind  quarter,  the  little  mammal  bury- 
ing his  sharp  teeth  in  the  frog's  nose.  Then  again 
did  the  milk-pond  croaker  exhibit  an  intelligence 
and  activity  which  I  had  always  been  led  to  be- 
lieve these  creatures  never  possessed.  He  kicked 
with  his  hind  legs  and  pawed  with  his  fore  legs 
with  such  vigor  that  that  rodent  had  very  few  op- 
portunities of  biting.  Once  the  mouse's  teeth  fas- 
tened upon  the  hind  foot  of  the  frog,  causing  him 
to  turn  two  or  three  complete  somersaults  in  his 
efforts  to  free  himself.  The  mouse  was  so  large 
that  it  was  no  easy  task  for  the  frog  to 
swallow  it.  Slowly  but  surely,  however,  it  dis- 
appeared, until  nothing  but  the  head  was  visible. 

There  being  no  water  in  the  globe  the  frog 
could  not  drown  it,  so  he  did  the  next  best  thing — 
choked  it  to  death  by  squeezing  its  neck  until  the 
poor  rodent's  bead-like  eyes  stuck  out  from  its 
head,  and  life  was  extinct. 

The  globe  in  which  the  frog  lived  hung  from 
an  iron  perch  occupied  by  a  great  horned  owl;  one 
day  I  noticed  that  the  frog  was  intently  watching 
the  owl  above  it.  Presently  the  owl  moved  its 
foot  and  the  frog  straightened  up  its  back  in  an 
attitude  of  interest  and  attention. 

My  esteemed  friend,  Mr.  David  Nicol,  the  well- 
known  engraver,  occupied  a  studio  next  door  and 
I  hastened  in  to  tell  him  that 

THE  FROG  WAS  ABOUT  TO  EAT  THE  OWL 
and  that  I  wanted  him  as  a  witness,  because  no  one 
would  otherwise  believe  the  story. 


442  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

The  old  gentleman  gravely  accompanied  me  to 
my  room  and  had  no  more  than  seated  himself 
before  the  frog  gave  a  leap  and 

GRABBED  THE  OWL'S   FOOT 

in  its  mouth.  The  astonished  owl  upset  the  perch, 
spilled  the  frog  on  the  floor,  broke  the  fish  globe 
and  several  dollars'  worth  of  plaster  casts. 

After  quiet  and  order  were  restored  the  engraver 
got  up  to  return  to  his  studio,  and  as  he  did  so  he 
said: 

"You  had  better  not  tell  that  story.  You  and 
1  saw  the  frog  make  the  attempt,  but  I  don't  be- 
lieve it  anyhow." 

This  is  a  splendid  example  of  a  so-called  Nature 
fake,  the  frog  did  jump  for  the  big  bird,  but  the 
frog  would  jump  at  any  small  moving  object  and 
it  had  no  idea  that  the  thing  it  saw  move  above  its 
head  was  in  reality  a  part  of  a  big  owl.  No  frog 
would  attempt  to  eat  an  owl,  but  any  frog  might 
make  the  same  mistake  mine  did  when  it  saw  the 
foot  move  on  the  perch. 

Mr.  Nicol  saw  the  frog's  act  and  really  believed 
it  was  trying  to  swallow  the  big  bird,  but  he  was 
afraid  to  vouch  for  the  story,  which  he  thought 
true,  but  it  was  true  only  in  appearance. 

While  fishing  for  trout  in  the  brook  of  the 
Flathead  Reservation,  Montana,  and  on  the  Swan 
River,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  some  of  the 
largest  toads  that  I  have  ever  seen. 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  443 
WILD  LANDS  PRODUCE  TOADS 

of  generous  proportions,  but  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain district  the  toads  are  gigantic,  and  their 
habits  differ  materially  from  our  Eastern  toads. 
The  "hoptoads"  of  the  East,  as  far  as  my  observa- 
tion goes,  only  frequent  the  waters  at  mating  time 
in  the  spring  or  in  the  early  summer,  but 

THESE  WESTERN  TOADS 

seem  to  linger  around  the  brooks  and  river  banks 
all  summer.  They  are  great  big  gray  fellows  with 
a  white  stripe  down  the  middle  of  their  backs ;  they 
have  not  the  least  fear  of  rushing  torrents,  whirl- 
pools and  roaring  waterfalls.  During  times  of 
freshets,  the  wild  Western  streams  sweep  the  trees 
from  their  shores,  and  so  fierce  are  the  currents 
that  when  the  "whim"  sticks  are  deposited  in  the 
form  of  driftwood  along  the  shores  of  the  reced- 
ing water,  they  are  completely  denuded  of  their 
bark.  Wherever  a  tangled  lot  of  smooth,  barkless 
driftwood  is  spread  over  the  surface  of  a  seething 
eddy  there  you  are  sure  to  find 

INNUMERABLE  TOADS. 

I  pushed  some  of  them  off  into  the  rapid  water  of 
Swan  River;  that  did  not  seem  to  alarm  them,  how- 
ever, and  not  one  was  swept  out  into  the  stream, 
but  every  individual  taking  advantage  of  the  eddies 
and  back  currents,  succeeded  in  reaching  the  drift- 


444  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

wood  and  climbing  aboard  again.  What  they  were 
doing  there  I  do  not  know,  but  from  the  abundance 
of  Shad-flies,  I  supposed  they  were  sharing  these 
dainties  with  the  trout.  Once  while  in  company 
with  my  camp  mate,  Mr.  Frederick  Vreeland,  on 
the  shores  of  McDonald  River,  we  came  upon  a 
large  gray  boulder.  It  had  a  lumpy  appearance 
like  one  of  those  conglomerate  rocks  known  to  the 
boys  as 

PUDDING    STONES. 

As  we  approached  the  object,  a  strange  thing  hap- 
pened. It  apparently  began  to  fall  to  pieces  before 
our  eyes.  Mr.  Vreeland  is  a  celebrated  botanist 
and  both  of  us  have  traveled  and  used  our  eyes 
while  doing  so,  but  neither  of  us  are  geologists. 
Nevertheless,  we  were  both  well  acquainted  with 
the  ordinary  characteristics  of  stones,  and  knew 
that  it  could  not  be  the  stone  itself  that  was 
crumbling  before  our  eyes.  Closer  inspection  told 
us  that  this  large  stone  had  been  completely 

COVERED  WITH  YOUNG  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  TOADS, 

which  produced  the  odd  effect  by  hopping  away  as 
we  approached.  We  sat  down  and  waited  a  con- 
siderable time  in  hopes  the  toads  would  return  to 
their  perch,  so  that  we  might  photograph  the  stone 
with  them  on  it,  but  they  did  not  seem  to  trust  us 
and  at  length  we  continued  our  way  in  the  trail. 
Another  peculiarity  about  these  big  toads  I  no- 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  445 

ticed  particularly  in  one  which  had  taken  its  posi- 
tion under  an  electric  light  in  front  of  a  hotel  on 
Lake  Chelan.  The  light  attracted 


MANY  LARGE  BEETLES 

and  moths,  which  were  gobblecj  up  by  the  toad 
whenever  they  fell  at  his  feet;  but  in  approaching 
his  quarry  this  toad  walked  around  like  a  lizard, 
and  did  not  hop,  although  the  distance  covered  was 
often  three  or  four  feet  at  a  stretch. 

It  often  happens  that  frogs  and  snakes  are  born 
"queer,"  that  is,  they  are  fit  subjects  for  museum 
freaks.  I  once  owned  a  toad  with 


FIVE  LEGS; 

I  charged  a  pin  for  each  leg,  thaj:  is,  five  pins,  to 
see  it,  and  did  a  big  business;  but  here  is  the  photo- 
graph of  a  frog  with  three  hind  legs  that  would 
have  made  my  fortune.  A  frog  is  much  more 
graceful  than  a  toad  and  more  difficult  to  capture, 
and  all  this  gives  him  additional  value  as  a  drawing 
card  for  a  show. 

"FIVE  PINS!   FIVE  PINS  TO  SEE!" 

Five    pins  to  see  a  five-legged  toad!     It  was  a 
genuine  five-legged  toad,  that  is,  it  had  three  fore 


446  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


A 

J 


legs  or  arms,  and  two 
hind  legs;  one  of  its  arms 
was  rather  thin  but  it  was 
an  arm,  with  all  the  bones 
and  joints  of  the  other 
arms,  including  a  well  de- 
fined hand. 

All  were  satisfied  with 
the  show  and  went  away 
conscious  that  they  had 
had  their  money's  worth  ; 
as  for  the  showman,  his 
blue  roundabout  fairly 
glistened,  like  a  new 
paper  of  pins,  with  the 

FIVE  LEGGED  FROG.  ,   ,  , 

wealth    taken    in    at    the 

door;  over  and  over  he  explained  to  the 
audience  that  the  slenderness  of  the  third 
arm  was  on  account  of  the  lack  of  use  because,  the 
young  showman  confidently  asserted,  "Pa  says 
that  if  I  cut  off  one  of  the  other  arms  then  the  toad 
will  have  to  use  the  thin  arm  and  it  will  grow  big 
like  the  ones  he  uses  now." 

Then  the  showman  would  point  out  the  elbow 
and  hand  and  show  how  it  corresponded  not  only 
with  the  toad's 

TWO  OTHER  ARMS  AND  HANDS, 

but  also  with  the  arms  and  hands  of  the  showman 
himself -and  the  spectators.  "You  see,"  he  would 
continue,  "you  have  a  head,  so  has  the  toad;  you 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  447 

have  arms  and  hands,  so  has  the  toad,  only  he  has 
got  three  of  each." 
To  feed 

HIS  COLLECTION  OF  TOADS 

the  young  circus  manager  had  gathered  grasshop- 
pers, but  they  hopped  out  as  fast  as  he  put  them  in 
the  hole  in  front  of  the  cellar  window  where  he 
kept  his  collection  of  hoptoads;  his  mother  would 
not  allow  him  to  destroy  the  sod  by  digging  angle- 
worms. Therefore  he  went  to  the  grapevine  in 
the  back  yard,  which  he  called  his  pasture;  there 

HIS  cows 

chewed  the  edges  of  the  big,  broad  leaves  all  day 
long  and  at  night  spread  their  light  wings  and 
flew  to  other  pastures  to  visit  other  cows.  All  his 
stock  looked  alike ;  they  were  of  one  color  and  one 
size,  yellow  cows,  with  black  spots  on  their  backs 
like  two  rows  of  buttons;  wings  were  not  the  only 
things  these  cows  possessed  that  made  them  differ 
from  other  cattle;  these  spotted  animals  each  pos- 
sessed 

six  LEGS  ! 

The  little  lad  loved  his  coWs,  but  he  could  not 
let  the  toads  starve,  spiders  were  hard  to  catch 
and  he  did  not  like  to  touch  them.  In  real  circuses 
they  feed  the  animals  on  meat  and  what's  meat  but 
cows  cut  up?  So  he  gathered  a  handful  of  his 
little  spotted  cattle  and  dropped  them  just  in  front 
of  his  toads,  and  they  were  instantly  swallowed. 

While  a  gentleman  of  Schenectady,  New  York, 


448  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

was  in  company  with  a  detachment  of  British  En- 
gineers in  New  Zealand,  he  passed  a  marsh  near 
Auckland,  which  was  being  drained.  There  was 
an  interesting  lot  of  aquatic  creatures  left  by  the 
receding  water,  among  which  the  New  York  man 
discovered  a 

SIX-LEGGED  NEW  ZEALAND  FROG, 
which  he  captured  and  brought  with  him  to 
Schenectady;  the  six-legged  frog  stood  the  journey 
without  affecting  its  health  and  lived  happily  in 
a  tub  of  water  in  Union  Street,  until  some  of  the 
children  in  the  spirit  of  mischief,  or  maybe  with 
the  desire  to  clean  his  frogship,  or,  possibly 
through  thoughtlessness,  threw  some  soap  suds  in 
the  tub.  Now  a  frog  is  a  cleanly  animal  and  much 
addicted  to  bathing,  but  he  does  not  need  soap 
to  keep  himself  clean,  and  the  consequence  of 
bathing  his  six  legs  in  soap  suds  was  fatal;  so 
Schenectady  lost  its  six-legged  frog,  but  the 
Smithsonian  Institute  at  Washington,  I  hear,  was 
enriched  by  the  accident  with  a  new  and  unique 
specimen  from  New  Zealand. 

TWO-HEADED  TURTLES 

and  two-headed  snakes  are  comparatively  frequent 
occurrences;  in  a  New  York  paper  there  was  pub- 
lished a  very  good  half-tone  photograph  from  a 
live  two-headed  snake,  said  to  be  then  living  at 
the  Bronx  Zoological  Park.  I  did  not  see  the 
snake,  but  I  have  seen  photographs  of  similar  ones 
and  have  sketched  from  life  many  double-headed 
fishes  and,  on  examination,  a  mass  of  the  newly 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  449 

hatched  spawn  will  probably  reveal  to  anyone  sev- 
eral of  these  freaks,  but  unlike  the  turtles  and 
snakes 

THE   FREAK  FISHES 

do  not  live  after  the  egg  is  absorbed,  apparently 
they  are  unable  to  feed  themselves  and  conse- 
quently as  soon  as  the  time  comes  when  it  is  nec- 
essary for  them  to  root,  hog,  or  die,  they  die. 

Not  far  from  Tomkinsville,  Kentucky,  about 
fifty-five  years  ago,  a  gentleman,  still  living,  dis- 
covered 

A  LAND  TORTOISE 

with  the  name  of  D.  Boone  and  the  date  1776 
carved  on  its  back.  It  is  more  than  possible  that 

this  was  carved 
by  some  one  as 
a  joke.  Fifteen 
years  ago,  how- 
e  v  e  r,  another 
man  in  the  same 
neighbor- 
hood  found  the 
same  old  tor- 
toise and  five 
years  ago  some 
wood  choppers 
picked  up  the 
same  old  land 
tortoise  with  the 
D.  Boone,  1776, 

AT  THE  OUTLET  OF  BIG  TINK.  Still    plainly    dlS- 


450  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

cernible  upon  its  shell.  We  all  know  that  it  is 
reported  that  Daniel  Boone  was  much  given  to 
carving  his  name,  and  il  is  not  improbable  that 
the  old  hunter  himself  put  the  name  and  date 
on  this  tortoise.  At  any  rate  the  old  tortoise  has 
been  found  so  many  times  within  a  mile  of  the 
place  where  it  was  first  discovered,  that  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  tortoise  is  not  given  to  wandering, 
that  it  is  not  a  very  young  specimen  now,  and  that 
it  bids  fair  to  outlive  the  human  inhabitants  at  the 
present  time  residing  in  its  neighborhood. 

The  accompanying  colored  plate  is  a  leaf  from 
my  sketch  book  and  represents  a  Pike  County  toad. 

It  is  a  red  toad,  and  Pliny  says  that  a  bone  from 
the  right  side  of  a  red  toad  administered  to  a  per- 
son will  make  them  hate  you;  but  a  bone  taken 
from  the  left  side  will  instil  into  the  person  to 
whom  it  is  administered  most  ardent  love.  The 
reader,  however,  need  not  worry.  I  am  not  going 
to  administer  either  of  these  bones  to  him,  for  I 
would  not  sacrifice  the  life  of  the  toad  to  gain  the 
reader's  enmity  and  I  will  trust  to  luck  to  gain  his 
affections. 

This  particular  toad  lives  under  the  door-sill  of 
the  gallery  to  my  log  house.  He  is  there  yet,  and 
has  been  there  for  a  number  of  years.  In  the  even- 
ing he  comes  out  and  hops  around  the  kitchen  door 
and  catches  the  insects  that  are  attracted  by  the 
crumbs  swept  from  the  kitchen  floor. 

HE  IS  A  TEMPERATE  TOAD, 
of  good  habits  and  well  behaved,  but  I  am  sorry 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  451 

to  say  that,  when  these  sketches  were  made  he  was 
in  a  disgraceful  condition — a  state  deserving  a 
punishment  of  ten  dollars  or  ten  days — .  This, 
however,  was  not  altogether  the  fault  of  the  toad. 
You  will  observe  several  unfinished  pencil  draw- 
ings. These  are  unfinished  because  the  toad  hopped 
away  before  they  could  be  colored  up  and  the  de- 
tails put  in.  This  happened  a  number  of  times, 
and  as  I  was  very  anxious  to  get  a  careful  drawing 
of  the  warty  rascal  and  at  the  same  time  did  not 
want  to  kill  him  to  keep  him  quiet,  at  the  suggestion 
of  one  of  the  woodsmen  I  administered  to  him  a 
spoonful  of  milk  flavored  with  alcohol.  It  was 
not  a  kind  thing  to  do,  but  not  so  cruel  as  killing 
the  creature,  because  he  did  get  sober.  The  effect 
of  the  milk  punch  can  be  seen  from  the  attitudes 
in  this  leaf  of  the  sketch  book;  but,  after  rolling 
around  in  the  most  comical  way  he  settled  down 
and  gave  me  all  the  time  necessary  to  make  a  care- 
ful water-color  portrait.  Then  he  gradually  sob- 
ered up  and  hopped  away 

A  SADDER  AND  A  WISER  TOAD. 

Since  that  time  he  has  refrained,  so  far  as  I 
know,  from  indulging  in  intoxicants. 

This  last  summer  (1905),  Mr.  Vreeland 
photographed  a  toad  while  singing.  The  toad  was 
sitting  on  a  stone  on  the  edge  of  Big  Tink  Pond 
and  while  he  focused  the  camera  I  mimicked  the 
note  of  the  toad.  Instantly  the  pond  minstrel  drew 
in  two  or  three  breaths,  then  his  throat  swelled 


452  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

up  into  a  ball  much  larger  than  his  head,  and  he 
gave  forth  that  half  burr  and  half  whistle  note 
with  which  we  are  all  familiar;  but  it  is  not  always 
necessary  to  imitate  the  toad  -to  make  him  sing,  for 
the  one  under  my  kitchen  would  come  hopping  out 
in  the  evening  and  sit  on  the  door-sill  and  every 
time  my  little  baby  daughter  gurgled  with  infantile 
glee  the  toad  would  answer  with  a  bur — r — -r, 
greatly  to  the  entertainment  of  my  guests  and  the 
delight  of  the  baby. 

I  have  always  understood  that  toads  were  great 
gluttons,  and  so  I  took  a  can  of  big,  fat,  Long 
Island  angle-worms,  and,  one  at  a  time,  threw  them 
in  front  of  this  toad  that  he  might  prove  the  ca- 
pacity of  his  race  for  this  sort  of  food;  but  after 
he  had  eaten  a  dozen  or  so,  he  blinked  his  eyes  two 
or  three  times,  turned  his  back  on  a  nice,  squirm- 
ing worm  as  big  as  a  Lamprey  eel,  and  hopped 
away  in  a  dignified  manner  to  his  retreat  under  the 
sill. 

I  have  been  very  much  interested  in  noticing 
how  much  a  toad  becomes  attached  to  a  certain 
locality.  This  Pike  County  toad  has  lived  under 
the  door-sill  for  a  number  of  years,  although  it 
must  go  to  a  considerable  distance  to  the  lake 
every  breeding  season,  while  another  toad  in  my 
back-yard  in  Flushing,  lived  several  years  in  a  dis- 
carded flower-pot,  to  enter  which  he  had  to  make 
a  perpendicular  hop  of  about  six  inches  and  then 
creep  into  a  hole  which  was  made  in  the  earth  in 
the  flower-pot. 


FROGS,  TOADS  AND  SOME  GRAY-HAIRED  LIES  453 

There  was  one  toad  killed  by  accident  when  it 
was  over  thirty-six  years  old,  but  I  do  not  know  of 
any  record  being  kept  of  the  real  length  of  life 
of  a  toad  or  frog.  I  have  had  a  fish  confined  in 
an  aquarium  eleven  years  and  it  only  met  its  death 
by  the  accidental  breaking  of  the  tank.  I  once 
kept  a  frog  about  three  years,  and  he  died  from  an 
accident.  As  far  as  I  know,  everything  tends  to 
the  supposition  that  these  creatures  live  indefinitely 
until  some  accident  kills  them. 

REMINDED  OF   HIS  TOAD. 

After  publishing  some  of  these  facts  I  received 
the  following  letter  from  Mr.  F.  S.  Crofoot,  of 
Detroit,  Michigan. 

"Your  very  interesting  article,  with  its  splendid  illustra- 
tions on  the  toad,  particularly  appealed  to  me.  In  your 
drawings  I  could  see  the  "counterfeit  presentment"  of  a 
toad  that  has  been  my  special  pet  for  the  past  five  years. 

"Up  to  about  a  month  ago  my  .toad  lived  like  a  king  in 
the  back-yard,,  regaling  himself,  as  was  his  wont,  on  the 
choice  tid-bits  of  insect  life  that  flourished  among  the  plants. 
He  grew  into  a  ponderous  fellow,  and  such  was  his  con- 
fidence in  his  surroundings  .that  he  would  see  little  danger 
in  hopping  sluggishly  along  at  the  very  feet  of  his  human 
acquaintance.  Even  our  big,  black  dog  was  treated  with 
supercilious  indifference,  much  to  that  canine's  sniffling  dis- 
gust. 

"Occasionally  Mr.  Toad  would  play  an  interesting  part 
in  a  performance  that  afforded  our  visiting  friends  a  great 
deal  of  amusement.  Mr.  Toad  enjoyed  having  his  back 
scratched.  With  a  long  •  stick  I  would  slowly  Stroke  the 
warty  protuberances  on  his  spinal  column.  He  would  flatten 
out  like  a  fat  pancake,  never  making  a  single  move  to 


454  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

escape,  and  to   all    appearances  having  the  time  of  his  life. 

"  But  one  day,  Toady  got  into  disgrace.  This  is  how  it 
came  about:  I  constructed  a  fountain  in  the  rear  yard  last 
summer,  in  which  were-  placed  some  goldfish.  One  moon- 
light night,  happening  to  look  into  the  water,  lo  and  behold! 
There  was  Mr.  Toad,  his  big,  broad  face  and  bulging  eyes 
looking  up  at  me  the  very  picture  of  trouble.  It  was  mani- 
fest that  he  was  trying  to  get  out  of  the  water,  but  a 
high,  steep  and  slippery  wall  made  this  impossible.  On 
further  examination  I  was  quite  taken  aback  to  see  in  his 
mouth  a  little  goldfish,  wriggling  and  squirming  to  escape. 
Toady  was  looking  directly  at  me  and  seemed  to  say,  or 
1  could  imagine  him  saying, 

'  Please,  Mr.  Back-scratcher,  help  me  out  with  this  dainty 
morsel.' 

"  Now,  instead  of  being  amused  I  was  filled  with  wrath, 
for  in  my  warty  friend  I  at  once  espied  a  harmful  creature, 
that  would  soon  deplete  the  animal  life  in  the  fountain.  I 
made  haste  to  catch  him  up  with  a  net,  and  with  firm  set 
lips,  conveyed  the  poaching  rascal  out  into  the  alley,  where 
I  dumped  him  a  block  away.  I  hated  to  do  it,  but  I  realized 
it  must  be  done  or  good-bye  to  the  goldfish. 

"How  such  a  slow-moving  fellow  could  capture  a  quick, 
swimming  fish  was  a  puzzle.  No  doubt,  after  climbing  to 
the  top  of  the  fountain  wall,  he  had  seen  the  fish  passing 
temptingly  by.  It  was  too  much  for  Toady,  and  in  he  went, 
all  bent  on  catching  the  fish,  very  much  like  human  beings, 
who  so  frequently  fall  into  temptation  without  figuring  on 
after  results." 

July  15,  1908,  I  brought  a  common  tree-toad  into  the  house, 
and  it  has  lived  contentedly  with  us  ever  since,  and  is  now, 
May  31,  1909,  sitting  at  my  elbow  on  the  window-sill.  A 
pot  of  damp  sod  is  placed  in  the  window  where  the  tree-toad 
sleeps  in  the  daytime.  This  keeps  his  toadship  from  drying 
up.  The  toad  feeds  from  my  hand,  and  at  night  wanders 
all  over  the  walls  of  the  room.  On  December  5th  it  went 
into  winter  quarters  in  a  toad-hole  in  a  flower  pot;  on 
February  7th  it  came  out  for  a  while,  but  again  returned, 
remaining  fltiiet  until  warm  weather ;  now  it  sings  merrily 
on  the  window-sill,  eats  flies,  moths  and  small  insects,  furnishes 
amusement  to  my  children,  and.  appears  perfectly  happy  in 
the  house. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT 

BILLY  CROW  AND   HIS  TWO-DOLLAR   BILL — WHERE   DID  HE   GET 
IT — THE    LEGEND    OF    HERO   JIM    CROW — THE    FIRST    OWL    I 

EVER   SAW THE  YOUNG   GOBBLINGS   IN  THE    STEEPLE SIX 

LONG-EARED  OWLS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY — ICE-BOUND 
EAGLES — UNCLE  SAM  ON  A  CHESTNUT  TREE — AN  EAGLE'S 
SINISTER  SONG — UNCLE  SAM  WHIPPED  BY  A  BLUE  HERON — 
FISH  HAWK  PIPES  LOUDLY  FOR  HELP — JIM  CROW  SWEARS 

AT  THE  EAGLE YOU  CAN  TAME  HAWKS  AND    EAGLES — 

FLUSHING  FISH  HAV/K THERE  USED  TO  BE  A  WOOD  PILE — 

HOME  OF  THE  AMERICAN  OSPREY OF  WHAT  THE  FISH 

HAWK'S  NESTS  ARE  MADE — THE  BLACKBIRD  TENEMENT 
HOUSE — OSPREY'S  NEST  ON  THE  BEACH — BLACK-CRESTED 
NIGHT  HERON  THAT  ATE  PORK — YOUNG  HERONS  THAT  LOOK 
LIKE  FIENDS. 

DID  YOU  EVER  OWN  A  CROW  ? 

If  not  you  have  missed  more  than  a  cartload  of 
innocent  fun.  I  have  owned  all  sorts  of  pets  in 
my  life,  from  pet  beetles  to 
'coons,  dogs  and  deer,  but  none 
gave  the  all-round  satisfaction 
of  the  crow. 

It  is  hardy,  full  of  the  jol- 
liest  of  tricks,  is  as  affec- 
tionate and  loyal  as  a  dog,  as 
comical  as  a  clown,  and  almost 
as  intelligent  as  a  boy.  A  pet 
crow  knows  its  friends  and 

455 


456  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

enemies  and  will  allow  no  liberties  from  a  stranger. 
Of  course,  a  crow's  honesty  is  no  better  than  a 
pack-rat,  but  my  crow  nevtr  stole  from  me,  and 
somehow  or  other  one  finds  it  easy  to  forgive  a 
thief  who  only  steals  from  others. 

When  we  dug  up  our  flower-bed  in  the  early 
spring  there  were  no  /ess  than  seven  silver  thimbles 
unearthed,  and  not  one  of  the  lot  came  from  our 
house.  One  day  Ul3illy"  brought  me  a  nice  two- 
dollar  greenback.  In  those  days  a  two-dollar  bill 
was  a  very,  very  large  amount  to  me,  and  stood 
for  an  unheard  of  amount  of  butter-scotch  and 
ginger  bread. 

Of  course  the  money  did  not  belong  to  me,  but 
neither  did  it  belong  to  the  crow,  and  "Billy" 
would  not  tell  where  he  got  his  wealth,  so  after  a 
consultation  with  my  parents  and  my  teachers,  and 
after  waiting  to  see  if  any  one  claimed  the  bill,  it 
was  at  length  decided  to  be  my  property,  and  it 
was  the  first  two  dollars  I  ever  had  all  in  a  heap. 

But  it  was  not  always  money  the  crow  found; 
once  he  filled  all  the  crevices  in  my  mother's  great 
four-posted  bed  with  liver;  this  could  not  be  seen 
and  attracted  no  attention  until  the  summer  heat 
began  to  act  upon  it,  then  everybody  in  the  house 
knew  that  something  had  happened.  The  old  folks 
said  a  rat  must  have  died  in  the  partition,  but  the 
crow  and  I  said  nothing,  we  were  chums  and  under- 
stood each  other.  So  I  busied  myself  with  the 
model  of  a  log  house  upon  which  I  was  at  work 
and  the  crow  was  equally  busy  decorating  the  dog 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  457 

with  colored  bits  of  cloth  which  he  deftly  tucked 
in  its  shaggy  coat.  I  suspected  the  real  cause  of 
the  disagreeable  odor,  and  as  soon  as  the  coast  was 
clear,  discovered  and  removed  the  liver,  and  never 
until  this  day  did  I  give  the  crow  away. 

THE   HERO  JIM  CROW. 

His  head  appeared  very  much  too  large  for 
everything  about  him  except  his  mouth  and  voice. 
The  former  feature  was  the  first  to  engage  one's 
attention,  and  the  latter  was  as  hoarse  as  the  croup. 

His  complexion  was  what  might  be  called  a  dark 
Payne's  gray  and  the  bluish  black  skin  hung  in 
wrinkles  around  his  withered  neck,  but  was  tightly 
stretched  over  his  rounded  abdomen.  He  was  as 
naked  as  the  brass  Diana  on  the  top  of  Madison 
Square  Garden,  and  as  blind  as  love.  His  legs 
were  too  long  and  too  weak  to  support  his  alder- 
manic  body,  but  we  must  not  blame  Little  Jim  for 
these  peculiarities ;  he  was  born  with  them ;  and  he 
was  only  a  little  orphan  baby  crow. 

The  crib  in  which  the  baby  reposed  was  a  work 
basket,  the  mattress  was  dry  grass,  and  the  coverlet 
a  rag  of  red  flannel;  however,  the  basket  was  more 
comfortable  than  the  nest  in  which  he  was  born 
and  the  flannel  was  as  warm  as  an  embroidered 
quilt.  Jim  was  no  bottle  baby,  but  he  was  very 
fond  of  raw  eggs  which  his  foster  father,  Dick, 
knew  how  to  crack  so  that  the  contents  could  slip 
slowly  into  the  great,  gaping  mouth  of  the  little 
crow. 


458  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

After  Dick  had  fed  him  Jim  would  nestle  down 
in  his  soft  bed  and  sleep  until  next  egg  time. 
Sometimes  Dick's  baby  sister  Deborah  would  creep 
to  the  crow's  basket.  Her  first  experiment  was  to 
try  and  put  the  bird  into  her  own  mouth.  This 
proved  a  failure;  but  she  was  more  successful  in 
her  next  experiment,  and  she  amused  herself  by 
picking  up  buttons  and  other  small  objects  which 
came  handy,  and  dropping  them  into  the  red  mouth 
of  Jim.  Why  these  things  did  not  cause  the  death 
of  the  crow  is  a  mystery,  possibly  explained  by  the 
habit  that  the  young  bird  had  of  flirting  distaste- 
ful objects  from  its  mouth  with  a  quick  twist  of 
its  head. 

The  real  result  of  these  attentions  was  the  grad- 
ual growth  of  a  feeling  of  affection  between  Debby 
and  Jim,  hardly  surpassed  by  the  bond  of 
devotion  which  bound  Dick  and  the  crow  together, 
making  them  almost  inseparable  companions. 
Long  before  it  was  the  proper  time  for  a  young 
bird  to  leave  its  nest  Jim  would  come  sprawling 
and  staggering  from  his  basket  to  meet  the  baby 
girl,  and,  seizing  the  hem  of  her  pinafore,  would 
hang  on  and  squawk,  while  Debby,  screaming  with 
delight,  would  scramble  over  the  veranda  floor  on 
all  fours  as  rapidly  as  her  hands  and  knees  could 
carry  her. 

Debby  still  wras  a  baby  and  had  but  just  learned 
to  walk  when  Jim  was  a  handsome,  full-grown, 
glossy  black  crow.  By  this  time  Jim  appointed 
himself  private  detective  in  plain  clothes  and  per- 


JIM    CROW   TO    THE   RESCUE 


46o  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

sonal  body-guard  to  the  little  girl,  and  it  was  woe 
to  the  stray  cat,  dog  or  barnyard  fowl  who  ap- 
proached too  near  little  Debby.  The  innocent  lit- 
tle garter-snakes  that  timidly  wiggled  through  the 
grass  by  the  feet  of  Debby  never  failed  to  lose  their 
heads  and  rest  their  bones  inside  of  Jim  Crow. 

Dick  would  never  harm  the  pretty  little  insect- 
eating  snakes,  or  any  other  wild  creature.  He 
loved  them  all  too  well.  He  loved  the  grass,  the 
trees,  the  sky  and  the  air. 

THE  BIRDS  WERE  HIS  PERSONAL  FRIENDS. 

Dick  knew  where  all  the  people  of  Birdville 
lived,  from  the  kingbirds  in  the  tall  Buttonwood 
tree  to  the  ground  sparrow  in  the  clover.  Jim  the 
crow  also  knew  the  inhabitants  of  Birdville;  but 
it  would  not  have  troubled  the  conscience  of  the 
crow  to  eat  the  robins'  eggs  and  the  young  catbirds 
at  a  meal  and  wantonly  destroy  their  little  nests.  If 
he  refrained  from  so  doing,  it  was  possibly  because 
he  always  had  enough  to  eat  at  home,  or  perhaps 
Jim  thought  that  the  inhabitants  of  Birdville  be- 
longed to  his  young  master.  Jim  Crow  might  steal 
from  everyone  else,  but  he  never  was  guilty  of 
robbing  Dick,  and  even  such  tempting  objects  as 
Dick's  bright  glass  marbles  were  deemed  sacred  by 
the  crow. 

The  other  birds  always  looked  with  suspicion 
at  Dick's  black  companion  and  although  they 
learned  to  trust  the  boy,  they  never  failed  to  scold, 
and  often  to  attack,  the  crow. 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  461 

The  beautiful  scarlet  tanager  would  cry,  "Chip 
jar;  chip  jar!"  whenever  he  saw  Jim,  and  the 
gorgeously  colored  oriole,  as  he  flashed  in  the  sun- 
light, singing  as  he  flew,  would  suddenly  become 
silent  at  the  sight  of  the  crow ;  but  when  the  king- 
bird erected  his  war  plume  Jim  would  have  busi- 
ness to  attend  to  which  necessitated  his  presence 
directly  around  his  master's  feet. 

A  fierce  war  eagle  with  great  hooked  bill  and 
tremendous  spread  of  wings,  lived  in  the  mys- 
terious country  on  the  far  side  of  the  little  lake  in 
front  of  Birdville. 

One  day  Dick  and  Jim  saw  the  great  bird  at 
Rock  Cabin  Cove  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  lake 
waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  rob  the  industrious 
fisherman  osprey.  Jim  ruffled  up  all  his  feathers, 
drooped  his  head  and  began  to  walk  around  his 
master's  feet,  talking  and  laughing  in  low  guttural 
tones  as  if  something  greatly  amused  him.  A 
moment  later  the  fish  hawk  fell  with  a  great  splash 
into  the  water,  disappearing  from  view,  only  to 
reappear  again  with  a  big  stupid  carp  in  its  hooked 
talons. 

The  Eagle  launched  himself,  and  sailing  over 
the  back  of  the  frightened  hawk,  demanded  the 
fruits  of  the  latter's  labor.  The  loud  whistling 
protest  of  the  hawk  could  be  heard  plainly  appeal- 
ing for  help,  and  in  a  moment  more  Jim  was 
flapping  his  black  wings  over  the  robber  eagle's 
back. 

By  his  loud,  hoarse  "caws"  one  could  tell  that 


462  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

he  was  having  fun  with  the  eagle  and  teaching 
him  how  it  feels  to  be  the  under  one.  Soon  the 
eagle  was  glad  to  leave  the  osprey  and  seek  the 
shelter  of  the  dense  wood  on  the  other  side  of  the 
lake  from  the  abandoned  quarry.  Perched  upon 
the  boy's  shoulder,  Jim  then  told  all  about  the 
affair. . 

"Caw,"  says  Jim,  "caw.  Sam  is  nothing  much. 
I  saw  Long  Legs,  the  blue  heron,  at  the  leaning 
maple,  whip  him — Sam  can't  fight  a  little  bit  'nless 
he  has  everything  his  way — caw,  caw!" 

Nobody  but  crows  and  Dick  understand  crow 
talk,  but  Dick  understands  all  the  woodfolks'  lan- 
guages. 

All  unknown  to  her  parents  and  Dick,  little 
Debby  had  toddled  after  her  brother  to  Birdville. 
Wearied  with  the  long  walk,  the  baby  girl  now 
slept  peacefully  among  the  blue  flowers  of  the 
lupine,  near  the  sparrows'  nest.  The  impertinent 
and  noisy  bluejay  came  chattering  over  to  see  why 
Debby  was  there,  and  incidentally  to  rob  a  nest 
or  two  by  the  way,  but  the  king-bird  raised  the  hue 
and  cry  and  drove  the  gaudy  bandit  away,  and  as 
the  jay  disappeared  down  the  tote  road  his  mock- 
ing, high-keyed  voice  was  heard  to  cry,  "Got  Mm, 
got  'im,  I've  got  him!" 

"Who?  Who?"  asked  the  barred  owl,  aroused 
from  his  day  nap  by  the  tumult. 

"Phebe,"  mournfully  replied  a  faint  voice;  and 
Dick  s'aid  to  Jim,  "I  hope  not." 

But  the  crow  was  not  there  to  hear  him.     Just 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  463 

then  the  boy  heard  his  black  friend  using  most  un- 
printable language,  betokening  both  rage  and  great 
excitement.  Seizing  a  club  and  hastening  to  his 
friend's  assistance,  Dick  was  horrified  when  he  saw 
a  large  eagle  vainly  trying  to  lift  a  white  object 
from  the  ground,  while  Jim  was  making  a  frantic 
attack  upon  the  eagle,  aided  by  the  king-bird  and 
humming  bird.  With  one  bound  the  boy  landed  on 
the  battle  ground,  and  with  a  mightly  swing  of  the 
cudgel  he  laid  the  bald-headed  robber  prone  among 
the  flowers.  The  next  moment  he  had  gathered  his 
little  baby  sister  in  his  sturdy  young  arms.  Her 
white  pinafore  was  torn  to  shreds,  but  she  was  un- 
hurt. 

"Poo   Jim,    him   fight   naughty   big   bird,    poo 

Jim,"   lisped  the   little   girl.      Poor   Jim   indeed! 

There  he  lay,  his  beautiful  black  wings  outstretched, 

moving  with  the  tremor  preceding 

^^fejjjKbr         death.     Jim  the   Crow  had  been 

>«9  killed   with    the    same    blow  that 

r  slew  the  eagle. 

^||hb  In  va'n   did    Dick    use    every 

jj|v       Ib^  means  in  his  power  to  resuscitate 
•L  his     friend    and     comrade.     The 
•  ,  genial   and  brave   bird  was   past 
x^ti^  I    help.     A  little  mound  amid  the 

*  1  I^^B  lupines  marks  the  spot  where  the 
quaint  and  lovable  soul  was  freed 
from  the  black  body  which  is  buried  there.  A 
shingle  serves  as  a  headstone  and  inscribed  there- 
on is  this  legend: 


464  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


HERE  LYS  JIM  THE   HEROE, 
EWUS  MY  BEST  FRIEN'  AN' 
HE  LICKED  A  EAGLE. 


On  the  same  block  with  my  present  studio,  stands 
the  Congregational  Church.  It  is  a  plain,  dignified 
building,  with  a  tall,  shingled  steeple.  It  has  been 
repainted  and  renovated.  This  is  too  bad,  because 
there  were  formerly  broken  lights  in  the  window- 
sashes  of  the  small  windows  away  up  in  the  steeple, 
and  the  spire  used  to  be  inhabited  by  several 
families  of  pigeons  and  one  family  of  barn-owls, 
all  of  which  found  their  way  into  the  steeple 
through  the  broken  windows.  When  Langdon 
Gibson  and  his  brother,  Charles  Dana,  were  boys 
they  discovered  the  barn-owls  in  the  steeple.  For 
several  years  before  that  I  was  acquainted  with  the 
fact  that  the  steeple  was  inhabited  by  these  birds, 
but  I  had  said  nothing  to  any  one  about  it,  for  the 
reason  that  if  no  one  knew  where  the  owls'  nest 
was  located,  no  one  would  disturb  it,  and  up  to 
that  time  there  was  not  a  record  of  the  barn-owl 
breeding  on  Long  Island.  But  one  day  Langdon 
Gibson  came  to  my  house  in  great  glee  with  the 
most  comical  looking  animal  under  his  arm,  which 
looked  much  more  like  a  monkey  than  it  did  like 
a  bird,  but  I  recognized  it  at  once  as  one  of  the 
young  barn-owls.  A  young  barn-owl  is  the 
most  comical,  weird  bird  that  I  have  ever  ex- 
amined. I  made  two  pages  of  drawings  showing 
the  different  poses  assumed  by  this  young  bird; 


YOUNG  BARN  OWLS  IN  VARIOUS  POSES 


466  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

but  really,  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  a  moving 
picture  to  convey  a  proper  idea  of  its  comical  and 
absurd  antics;  and  the  noise  it  could  make  was  as- 
tonishing. It  would  open  its  mouth  and  go 
"shish"  so  loudly  that  it  would  sound  like  escaping 
steam,  then  it  would  bow  its  head  down  until  the 
top  of  its  cranium  touched  the  ground.  All  the  time 
the  puffy  ball  of  yellowish  down  would  be  walking 
towards  me.  When  it  reached  my  feet  it  would 
commence 

CLIMBING  UP  MY  TROUSERS  LEG, 

still  bobbing  its  head  and  emitting  a  steam-like 
noise.  I  suspect  that  the  young  barn-owls  are  the 
origin  of  all  the  ancient  stories  about  haunted  bel- 
frys,  castle  turrets  and  church  steeples,  and  that 
they  are  what  Poe  referred  to  when  he  exclaimed: 

"And  the  people,  ah,  the  people ; 

They  that  dwell  up  in  the  steeple." 
For  as  the  poet  declares : 

"They  are  neither  man  nor  woman; 
They  are  neither  brute  nor  human" 
They  are  owls! 

But  since  the  windows  have  been  glazed  in  the 
Congregational  steeple,  the  barn-owl  has  left  for 
some  more  hospitable  home.  I  counted 

SIX  LONG-EARED  OWLS 

last  winter,  however,  roosting  in  one  fir  tree  within 
a  block  and  a  half  of  my  studio,  and  I  know  this 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  467 

family  of  owls  has  been  around  here  for  a  dozen 
or  more  of  years. 

OWLS  SWALLOW  THEIR  FOOD  WHOLE, 
and  afterwards  spit  out  a  pellet  composed  of  the 
hair,  feathers  and  bones  of  their  victims.     Under- 
neath this  owl  roost,  the  ground  was  covered  with 

pellets.  After  a  hard 
shower  of  rain  the  pel- 
lets were  all  dissolved 
v  and  washed  together  so 
that  they  made  a 
blanket  of  felt  from 
one-quarter  of  an  inch 
to  two  inches  thick.  It 
was  in  a  rude,  rectangu- 
lar form,  three  feet 
long,  by  over  two  and 
one-half  feet  wide;  that 
means,  there  were  six  or 
more  square  feet  of  felt 
matting  composed  of 
mouse  hair  interspersed  with  the  skulls  and  bones 
of  the  victims  of  these  owls.  I  examined  it  very 
carefully  and  found  it  to  be  principally  composed 
of  the  remains  of  mice,  with  a  sprinkling  of  a  few 
bones  and  skulls  of  the  English  sparrow.  This 
means  that  the  long-eared  owl  is  a  useful  bird  and 
should  be  cultivated  and  encouraged  to  live  about 
one's  place. 

THE  FIRST  OWL  I  EVER  SAW 
was    a    small    screech    owl    and    it    was    sitting 


468  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

on  the  head-board  of  the  bed  in  my  big 
brother's  room.  I  do  not  know  when  this 
was  nor  how  long  ago  it  happened,  but  I  recol- 
lect it  as  distinctly  as  if  it  were  yesterday.  The  owl 
sat  there  blinking  and  from  its  mouth  protruded 
the  tail  of  a  mouse;  it  was  the  tail  of  a  live  mouse 
which  had  been  swallowed  whole  by  the  owl;  this 
T  knew  because  the  tail  was  moving  as  I  looked 
at  it.  Since  that  time  I  have  owned  a  number  of. 
owls,  big  and  little. 


ONE  GREAT  HORNED  OWL 

which  occupied  a  parrot's  perch  in  our  back-yard  in 
Kentucky,  was  a  very  fierce  creature,  although  it 
never  harmed  its  own  master.  One  day  my  aunt 
was  walking  near  the  owl  perch  when  she  saw  a 
flower  which  struck  her  fancy.  She  stopped  to  pluck 
it  and  was  knocked  almost  unconscious  by  a  blow 
from  the  owl's  wing. 

The  reader  must  understand  that  the  owl  saw  the 
lady  but  indistinctly  and  when  she  stooped,  it  mis- 
took the  movement  as  one  meaning  battle;  always 
being  ready  for  an  occurrence  of  this  kind  the  owl 
struck  the  astonished  lady  over  the  eye  with  its 
wing,  and  my  dear  aunt  nursed  a  black  eye  for  a 
week  or  more  thereafter. 

One  day  the  owl  was  loose,  moping  around  the 
yard  and  some  bad  boys  saw  it  and  resolved  to 
steal  the  bird ;  they  did  not  know  the  nature  of  the 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  469 

owl  and  that  their  actions  were 

being  watched  by  an   interested  ^      '" 

company    in     the     house;   there  f 

were  three  lads  in  the  gang  and 

they  had  all  dropped  from  the          /  ' 

fence  into  the  yard  before  "Boo-       & 

boo"  the  owl  discovered  them.   I    jf| 

never  saw  three  boys  go  over  a 

fence     more     rapidly  than  these 

lads    did    when  "Booboo"  with 

wings  spread  and    eyes    glaring 

swooped  down  upon  them.   Once 

when    "Booboo"    was    free,    he 

thought  he  would  escape  from  the  confines  of  the 

yard;  so  away  he  went  over  the  house-tops  to  the 

river  bank.    I  followed  on  a  dead  run,  and  reached 

the  rolling  mill  which  stood  on  the  banks  of  the 

river  in  time  to  hear  a  war-whoop  and  see  a  big 

brawny  mill-hand  hopping  around  on  one  foot  and 

nursing  the  other  in  his  two  hands. 

There  was  evidently  something  doing  and  I 
rightly  conjected  that  "Booboo"  must  be  mixed  up 
in  it.  It  seems  that  "Booboo"  in  flying  towards 
the  river  struck  some  telegraph  wires  which  his 
defective  vision  did  not  enable  him  to  see;  the  force 
with  which  he  struck  the  wires  caused  him  to  fall 
to  the  ground,  seeing  which  the  mill-hand  rushed 
out  to  capture  the  bird  and  imprudently  put  his 
foot  down  upon  him  with  the  results  already  told. 

Another  great  horned  owl  that  I  owned  I  kept 
in  my  studio  on  Broadway  in  New  York  City  until 


470  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

he  did  so  much  damage  and  injury  to  property  and 
persons  that  I  took  him  to  the  roof  of  the  building 
and  gave  him  his  liberty. 

One  day  we  were  all  working  quietly  at  our 
easels  when  my  eldest  brother,  J.  Carter  Beard, 
suddenly  pushed  back  his  chair  to  reach  for  a 
crayon  which  he  had  dropped  on  the  floor.  The 
big  owl  was  dozing  on  his  perch  on  top  the  half- 
opened  door  to  a  closet  and  was  startled  by  the 
sudden  movement  of  my  brother,  which,  owl-like, 
he  interpreted  to  mean  battle.  Ever  ready  for  a 
fight  he  sailed  down  from  the  door  with  such  sud- 
denness and  vigor  that  when  he  struck  my  brother 
he  upset  both  him  and  the  chair.  Another  owl  of 
the  same  kind  which  was  owned  by  William  H. 
Beard,  my  uncle,  displayed  none  of  the  fierceness 
of  the  last  two;  on  the  contrary  this  owl  of  my 
artist  uncle  was  full  of  quaint  tricks  and  odd 
amusements;  its  particular  plaything  was  an  old 
bladeless  pocket-knife  which  he  never  tired  of 
pouncing  upon  when  it  was  thrown  out  in  the  yard ; 
he  particularly  delighted  in  extracting  the  knife 
from  holes  or  crevices  where  it  was  placed  to  amuse 
him,  but  the  oddest  adventure  with  an  owl  was 
when  the  one  in  my  studio  was  attacked  by  the  pet 
bull-frog  which  lived  in  a  glass  globe  hanging  un- 
der the  owl  perch:  this  story,  however,  properly 
belongs  with  that  of  the  bull-frog  where  the  reader 
can  find  it. 

Some  time  ago  there  was  a  lengthy  discussion 
in  some  of  the  sportsmen's  magazines  about  ice- 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  471 

bound  eagles  and  hawks,  some  people  claiming 
that  ice  could  not  temporarily  disable  these  birds.  I 
have  never  seen  an  ice-bound  eagle,  but  my  uncle, 
William  H.  Beard,  painter  of  animals,  once 
brought  home  a  large  red-tailed  hawk  which  he 
found  after  a  freezing  rain  storm  so  coated  with 
ice  as  to  be  unable  to  fly,  or,  in  fact,  to  move  about 
at  all  except  by  an  awkward  hop.  I  remember  once 
a  storm  which  occurred  in  Cincinnati  during  the 
spring  migration  of  birds;  very  few  of  the  birds 
were  killed  but  hundreds  of  them  were  beaten  to 
the  ground  and  disabled  so  that  all  the  small  boys 
were  collecting  them  and  had  cages  full  of  the 
strange  visitors,  which  were  all  scarlet  tanagers.  I 
was  not  well  enough  posted  on  birds  in  those  days 
to  identify  the  strangers,  but  I  did  know  that  the 
birds  beaten  down  by  that  storm  were  not  the  ones 
common  in  that  neighborhood. 
In  March,  1904,  a  wet 

SNOW  STORM  KILLED  MILLIONS  OF  LAPLAND 
LONG-SPURS, 

an  account  of  which  may  be  found  in  the  Auk  of 
October,   1907. 

During  an  ice  storm  in  Flushing,  Long  Island, 
I  saw  a  large  flying  squirrel  limping  painfully 
across  our  front  lawn.  I  started  out  to  rescue  it, 
but  it  climbed  up  the  trunk  of  a  maple  tree  and 
crept  into  a  large  hole  in  the  trunk  where  the  wood 
had  decayed;  supposing  that  it  would  find  comfort- 


472  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

able  quarters  there,  I  returned  to  the  house.  After 
the  storm  was  over,  I  found  the  squirrel  dead  at 
the  foot  of  the  maple  tree ;  the  hollow  had  not  pro- 
tected it  from  the  storm,  and  the  little  animal  was 
coated  with  ice.  I  have  observed  that  none  of 
these  small  rodents  can  stand  the  combined  effect 
of  wet  and  cold. 

During  the  blizzard  in  March,  of  1888,  there 
was  a  great  number  of  birds  killed  and  others  in- 
jured, and  upon  visiting  my  chicken-coop  I  found 
that  an  old  torn  cat,  a  game  cock,  and  four  English 
sparrows  had  all  sought  refuge  on  the  same  roost; 
the  roost  consisted  of  a  pole  about  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter; the  torn  cat  occupied  about  the  middle  of  the 
group,  its  back  was  humped  up,  its  four  feet 
bunched  together,  its  tail  hanging  down  one  side 
of  the  perch,  and  its  war-scarred  face  drooping 
down  on  its  paws  in  front;  snuggled  up  close  to 
it  was  the  old  game  cock  on  one  side,  two  sparrows 
on  the  other  and  two  sparrows  up  against  the  game 
cock.  The  cat  seemed  to  be  only  interested  in  the 
art  of  sleeping  without  falling  off  the  perch,  and 
the  birds  in  absorbing  the  heat  in  each  others'  bodies 
and  that  of  the  cat.  It  was  a  strange  group,  but 
not  a  very  happy  family. 

UNCLE  SAM,  THE  BALD-HEADED  EAGLE, 

sits  on  the  chestnut  tree  at  Rock  Cabin  Cove  across 
the  pond,  and  from  this  vantage  ground  his  pierc- 
ing eye  immediately  detects  the  presence  of  friend 
or  foe.  He  is  a  wise  eagle  and  has  long  since 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  4?3 


ROUGH   RIDER'S   EAGLE— PHOTOGRAPHED    IN    CAMP 

learned  that  the  most  relentless  foe  to  all  wild 
creatures  is  the  two-legged  animal  who  carries  a 
gun. 

If  we  could  carefully  examine  the  wary  old 
bird's  body,  there  is  little  doubt  that  we  could  find 
many  scars  which  would  help  us  to  understand  the 
very  accurate  knowledge  Uncle  Sam  is  known  to 
possess  of  the  effective  range  of  the  murderous, 
fire-belching  thunder  sticks  his  arch  enemy  uses  on 
all  the  wood  folks. 

It  is  because  this  eagle  knows  these  things  that 
he  is  alive  today  and  sitting  on  the  old  chestnut 
tree  where  he  perched  last  year,  and  for  an  unre- 
corded number  of  years  previous  to  that  date. 


474  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Through  the  field-glass  we  can  see  the  perse- 
cuted emblem  of  our  country,  with  his  proud  head 
turned  to  one  side  as  if  there  were  something  in 
that  direction  which  interested  him,  as  indeed  there 
is,  and  the  war  bird  is  becoming  restless;  now  we 
can  hear  him  talking  to  himself  in  a  series  of  rasp- 
ing noises  and  whistling  notes,  but  the  harsh  notes 
are  all  but  lost  in  the  distance  they  must  travel  to 
reach  the  log  house,  and  we  can  only  hear  the  more 
musical  ones. 

As  Jimmy,  the  old  backwoodsman,  said:  ''Sam- 
my is  singing  like  a  canary  in  a  cage." 

There  is  a  sinister  meaning 

TO  THE  SONG  OF  AN  EAGLE. 

Unlike  the  canary,  it  is  not  the  mere  joy  of 
living  which  calls  forth  his  song,  it  is  his  method  of 
working  his  courage  up  by  telling  himself  that 
he,  Uncle  Sam,  is  the  king  of  birds,  a  mighty  war- 
rior, and  can  whip  anything  that  wears  feathers  in 
Pike  County.  What!  he  afraid,  who  dares  say 
the  word? 

When  the  old  fellow  had  worked  himself  up  to 
the  fighting  point  he  launched  his  great  body  in  the 
air  and  made  for  the  leaning  maple  by  the  musk- 
rat's  last  winter's  home. 

Unfortunately,  the  foliage  of  the  forest  at  this 
point  intercepts  our  view,  and  we  could  only  see 
what  seemed  to  be  another  eagle. 

Uncle  Sam  made  a  rush  at  the  stranger,  which 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  475 

the  latter  successfully  repelled,  as  he  also  did  two 
or  three  more  swoops  of  Uncle  Sam,  who  after  the 
last  unsuccessful  attack  ignominiously  retreated,  and 
hurriedly  flew  over  the  pine  tops  in  the  direction 
of  "C'reely  Pond." 

We  were  not  long  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  foe  which  in  fair  fight  vanquished  the  king 
of  Pike  County,  and  it  was  with  mingled  feelings 
of  wonder  and  disappointment  we  noted  the  long 
legs  of  the  stranger  trailing  out  behind  like  a  kite's 
tail  as  it  left  its  perch  and  we  recognized  it  to  be  a 
great  blue  heron.  As  the  long-legged  bird  flopped 
its  big  wings  over  the  pond,  it  turned  its  head 
once  and  cast  a  scornful  glance  in  the  direction  that 
the  fleeing  eagle  had  taken.  Seeing  that  its  enemy 
had  disappeared  the  heron  gave  voice  to  a  con- 
temptuous "quoke!"  and  flew  down  the  pond  to 
the  outlet. 

In  common  with  the  rest  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, our  party  at  the  log  house  have  a  great  regard 
for  the  bald-headed  eagle,  arid  are  so  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  idea  of  its  dignity  and  prowess 
that  we  all  felt  indignant  that  the  lance-like  point 
of  a  heron's  beak  should  be  too  much  for  Uncle 
Sam.  This  feeling  was  aggravated  by  the  fact 
that  it  was  only  recently  we  were  watching  Uncle 
Sam  engage  in  his  time-honored  custom  of  bull- 
dosing  a  fish-hawk  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  it 
by  threats  of  violence  to  drop  a  large  fish  which 
the  osprey  clutched  tightly  in  its  hooked  talons 
and  which  by  its  own  skill  and  industry  it  had  pro- 


476  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

cured;  but  it  was  not  the  hold-up  which  bothered 
us,  we  Americans  have  grown  accustomed  to  hold- 
ups. 

THE  HAWK  PURSUED  BY  THE  EAGLE 

flew  directly  over  our  heads  and  not  far 
above  the  roof  of  the  log  house;  the  hawk 
was  piping  loudly  for  help  and  apparently 
hoped  for  assistance  from  us,  but  we  were 
all  so  anxious  to  see  the  eagle  swoop  down 
and  catch  the  falling  fish  when  the  hawk  in  ter- 
ror should  abandon  its  prey,  that  it  never  occurred 
to  us  to  interfere  with  the  game.  However,  the 
osprey  is  not  without  friends  in  Pike  County  and 
his  cry  of  distress  reached  old  "Jim,"  the  crow, 
who  for  years  has  nested  in  the  hemlock  down  in 
the  swail.  Jim  no  sooner  heard  the  call  for  help 
than  he  boldly  took  wing  and  unhesitatingly  at- 
tacked Uncle  Sam  from  above,  and  lightly  floating 
on  the  summer's  breeze  a  bunch  of  eagle  feathers 
drifted  over  the  tree  tops. 

Evidently  one  blow  on  the  back  from  the  mallet- 
like  beak  of  the  crow  was  all  that  Uncle  Sam 
wanted,  for  he  immediately  fled  across  the  pond  to 
the  shelter  of  the  dense  woods  at  the  inlet. 

But  when  the  eagle  was  perched  on  a  dead  limb 
I  noticed  that  the  crow  kept  out  of  reach  of  the 
big  bird;  although  the  black  rascal  did  occupy  the 
same  branch  it  did  not  dare  to  come  within  six  feet 
of  Uncle  Sam,  but  contented  itself  with  making 
slurring  and  uncomplimentary  remarks  presumably 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  477 

about  the  eagle's  general  appearance  and  character. 
The  crow's  conversation  sounded  most  profane. 
All  the  time  that  Jim  Crow  was  swearing  at  his 
big  neighbor  he  ruffled  his  sable  feathers  and 
dragged  his  somber  wings  along  the  limb  of  the 
tree  as  he  strutted  backward  and  forward  out- 
side of  the  danger  limit.  Uncle  Sam  has  a  mate 
and  a  nest  somewhere  over  the  mountain,  but  his 
mate  seldom  accompanies  him  to  visit  us  at  Big 
Tink. 

The  large  birds  of  prey  all  make  interesting 
additions  to  your  back-yard  zoo,  and  are  none  of 
them  hard  to  tame,  although  many  are  not  easy 
to  capture. 

There  are  possibly  none  of  the  hawks  or  eagles 
which  cannot  be  taught  to  hunt  as  the  falcons  of 
old  were  taught,  but  this  requires  time  and  patience 
and  the  description  of  the  method  of  training 
them  would  take  up  all  the  room  allowed  for  this 
chapter. 

There  are  possibly  at  least  twenty  kinds  of  hawks 
within  reach  of  most  of  the  readers  of  this  arti- 
cle, and  it  may  be  more  than  that  for  some  of 
them;  then  there  are  the  owls,  and  the  mighty 
eagle.  There  was  an  old  fisherman  a  few  years  ago 
on  Long  Island  Sound  who  always  had  a  pet  eagle 
supervising  his  work  and  incidentally  devouring  all 
the  small  fish  his  friend  saw  fit  to  allow  him  to  eat. 

The  best  time  to  capture  any  of  the  hooked- 
billed,  sharp-clawed  birds  is  when  they  are  quite 
young  and  this  can  only  be  successfully  ac- 


478  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

complished  by  visiting  their  nests  in  the  tree  tops, 
access  to  which,  as  a  rule,  can  be  obtained  by  using 
climbervS. 

The  owls  often  begin  to  lay  even  in  our  North- 
ern States  as  early  as  February;  as  far  north  as 
Minnesota,  the  eggs  of  the  great  horned  owl  have 
been  found  as  early  as  February  7,  but  we  are 
not  nest  robbers  of  the  kind  who  exterminate  the 
birds  by  collecting  eggs. 

Both  my  dogs,  "Tramp"  and  "Nipper,"  wanted 
a  swim  one  morning  and  they  took  particular  care 
to  make  known  their  want  by  putting  their  cold, 
wet  noses  in  my  hand,  and,  after  attracting  my  at- 
tention, smelling  around  the  wheel  closet,  then 
looking  me  in  the  face  and  barking. 

I  understand  dog  language  and  knew  just  what 
was  expected  of  me,  so  I  jumped  on  my  wheel 
and  with  the  dogs  frisking  on  each  side  of  me  took 
the  road  to  Kissena  Lake. 

After  the  dogs  had  plunged  into  the  cool  water 
and  retrieved  all  the  floating  bits  on  the  surface 
of  the  pond,  I  wheeled  down  to  the  other  end, 
where  an  ancient  mill  stands.  The  mill  has  been 
transformed  into  an  ice  manufactory  and  my 
friend  the  engineer  sat  under  the  shade  of  an  old 
willow  tree  just  outside  the  engine-room.  He  was 
watching  the  corks  attached  to  several  fish  lines  he 
had  set  in  front  of  the  mill. 

Alongside  of  him  was  a  tub  of  ugly  looking 
snapping  turtles  and  on  a  rude  perch  sat  a  great 
bird  which  might  at  first  glance  have  been  mis- 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  479 

taken  for  an  eagle,  but  the  hooked  bill,  bright  eye 
and  grapple-like  talons  as  well  as  the  other  familiar 
peculiarities  were  those  of  the  fish  hawk,  or  as  it  is 
better  known  in  print,  the  American  osprey. 

I  mention  this  morning's  incident  because  a  week 
ago  this  osprey  was  sailing  around  the  sky  watch- 
ing the  surface  of  the  water  for  fish,  a  wild,  free 
bird,  while  today  it  accepts  its  food  from  the  en- 
gineer's hand.  The  bird  calmly  kept  its  position 
on  the  perch  while  I  examined  it  and  only  showed 
a  desire  to  fight  when  Tramp  and  Nipper  displayed 
an  inclination  to  make  a  close  examination  of  his 
hawkship. 

The  bird  has  an  injured  wing  and  is  unable  to 
fly,  but  if  it  was  still  wild  it  would  make  an  at- 
tempt to  fly  and  failing  would  throw  itself  on  its 
back,  then  with  talons  and  beak  ready,  would  say 
in  hawk  language:  "I  can't  fly,  but  you  bet  I  can 
put  up  a  good  fight,"  and  every  boy  who  has  seen 
a  wounded  hawk  would  believe  him. 

THE  BEST  WAY  TO  TAME  A  HAWK 

is  to  take  it  young  and  raise  it  by  hand.  A  red- 
tailed  hawk  which  I  reared  in  this  manner  made  a 
beautiful  pet  and  his  sharp  eyes  could  detect  his 
master  two  blocks  away.  He  made  known  his  joy 
when  he  saw  me  approaching,  by  a  loud  "Kee — y — 
oi!  Kee  You!  Kee  Yoi!" 

There  used  to  be  a  woodpile  in  an  open  pasture 
on  Pumbo  Island,  and  on  top  of  the  woodpile  was 


480  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

a  cartload  of  brush  which  had  been  carried  there 
by  a  couple  of  old  fish-hawks;  there  they  would 
keep  house  and  rear  their  families.  In  the  mid- 
dle of  the  brush  heap  was  a  basin-like  hollow  lined 
with  sea-weed,  bits  of  sponge,  pieces  of  fish-net  and 
fish  lines,  all  of  which  made  a  soft  nest,  soft  enough 
for  the  fuzzy,  big-eyed,  •  claw-footed  babies  who 
were  cradled  there. 

I  describe  the  nest  minutely  from  knowledge 
gained  by  inspection  of  other  nests.  I  never  was 
within  fifty  feet  of  this  particular  nest. 

It  was  not  a  lack  of  curiosity  to  examine  the 
woodpile  home  which  prevented  me  from  closer 
observation,  but  whenever  I  attempted  to  approach 
the  woodpile  the  parent  birds  would  swoop  down 
at  my  head  so  savagely  and  scream  so  fiercely  that 
I  was  glad  to  make  my  escape  by  taking  ignomini- 
ously  to  my  heels  and  sprinting  for  cover. 

HOME  OF  THE  AMERICAN  OSPREY. 

Within  half  a  day's  journey  of  New  York  City 
lies  an  almost  desert  island,  whose  barren  wilder- 
ness is  interrupted — marred,  I  had  almost  said — 
by  a  single  habitation.  A  stone  lighthouse  perched 
upon  the  bluff  at  the  end  of  the  island  seems  a 
natural  accessory  to  a  lonesome  symphony  of  rock, 
sand,  water,  and  sky.  The  inhospitable  coast  of 
this  island  offers  no  safe  port  or  harbor,  but  the 
treacherous  sandy  beach  is  ragged  and  broken  with 
huge  boulders  and  rocks,  against  whose  flinty  sides 
the  storm  wave  is  dashed  with  angry  impetus,  and 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  481 

splintered  into  foam  and  spray.  The  occasional 
fragments  of  wrecks  strewn  upon  the  beach,  or 
forming  appropriate  monuments  to  the  graves  of 
drowned  mariners,  testify  to  the  danger  of  the 
coast,  and  add  a  solemn  tone  to  the  sea-song  of  this 
desert  isle. 

A  marsh  or  swamp  occupies  the  center  of  the 
island,  about  which  grow  trees  of  moderate  height, 
being  in  a  measure  protected  from  the  winds  by  the 
surrounding  hills  or  mounds  whose  sandy  baldness 
is  scarcely  covered  by  a  thin  growth  of  wiry  grass. 
At  the  foot  of  the  hills,  stretching  to  the  water's 
edge,  are  sandy  flats,  dotted  here  and  there  with 
trees,  gnarled,  knotted,  misshapen,  and  dwarfed 
by  exposure  to  tempest  and  lack  of  nourishing 
soil. 

Each  summer's  vacation,  as  our  yacht  passed 
this  island,  my  curiosity  has  been  excited  by  the 
great  number  of  birds  which  make  it  their  home. 
It  was  partly  to  satisfy  this  curiosity,  and  partly 
to  try  the  fishing,  which  is  excellent  in  the 
dangerous  eddies  of  the  tide,  that  induced 
me,  with  two  companions,  to  land  upon  this  is- 
land one  quiet  Sunday  morning.  As  our  little  sail- 
boat approached  the  lighthouse  we  saw  a  couple 
of  great  northern  divers  swimming  unconcernedly 
about,  or  ever  and  anon  disappearing  beneath  the 
smooth  waters,  and  that  evening  we  could  hear 
their  wild,  maniacal  laugh  across  the  tide. 

After  landing,  we  walked  over  the  sandy  flats, 
disturbing 


482  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

SCORES  OF  NIGHT-HAWKS. 

These  mysterious  birds  filled  the  air  overhead, 
and  darted  down  past  our  ears  with  a  loud 
whirring  noise,  while  they  kept  up  a  con- 
stant repetition  of  their  peculiar  cry.  Numerous 
as  were  these  birds  at  first,  we  only  succeeded 
in  finding  one  egg.  Nests  they  have  none;  but  so 
closely  does  the  egg  resemble  lichens,  dry  grass, 
or  moss,  that  although  the  mother  bird  may  rise 
from  beneath  your  feet,  it  will  require  careful 
search  and  a  sharp  eye  to  detect  the  little  eggs. 

Not  only  are  the  eggs  themselves  difficult  to  see, 
but  I  am  convinced  that  the  night-hawk  carries 
away  the  eggs'  with  her  when  she  is  disturbed. 

I  am  thoroughly  convinced  of  this  from  the  re- 
sult of  numerous  experiments.  In  no  case  did  I 
discover  an  egg  when  the  bird  had  time  to  plan 
her  retreat,  but  whenever  I  sneaked  up  close  to  the 
sitting  bird  and  with  a  wild  war-whoop  and  a 
frantic  swing  of  my  hat  rushed  at  her,  I  was  certain 
of  finding  an  egg  in  the  place  vacated  by  the 
frightened  bird,  but  never  more  than  one. 

In  the  low  bushes  or  high  grass  along  the  edges 
of  the  swamp,  we  found  numerous  nests  of  the 
swamp  blackbird.  Meadow  larks  had  their  nest 
upon  the  grass-plot  in  front  of  the  lighthouse  door, 
on  top  of  the  bluff.  The  sandy  face  of  the  bluff 
was  perforated  with  innumerable  burrows  of  the 
industrious  bank  swallow. 

On  every  part  of  the  island  the  large  nest  of  the 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  483 

fish-hawk  formed  a  prominent  feature  of  the  land- 
scape, and  from  sunrise  to  sunset  the  American 
osprey  sailed  around  overhead  in  graceful  curves, 
protesting  with  shrill  cries  against  the  invasion  of 
its  territory  by  strangers. 

Baird  says  that  the  American  osprey  or  fish- 
hawk  nests  almost  invariably  in  the  tops  of  tall 
trees.  He  gives  as  exceptions  to  this  rule  a  nest 
upon  a  small  pine  tree  in  Maine,  and  one  upon  a 
cliff  upon  the  Hudson  River.  Audubon,  I  believe, 
found  two 

FISH-HAWKS'  NESTS  UPON  THE  GROUND. 

With  these  two  facts  in  mind,  I  was  somewhat 
surprised  to  find  ospreys'  nests  scattered  around 
promiscuously  upon  the  beach,  the  sand  dunes, 
piles  of  driftwood,  tops  of  boulders  and  small 
trees.  The  nests  are  all  of  them  rather  well  built, 
the  foundation  consisting  of  large  sticks,  and  in 
some  instances  pieces  of  plank  weighing  fully  as 
much  or  more  than  the  bird.  Over  this  founda- 
tion is  a  layer,  composed  of  seaweeds,  sponges,  and 
other  odd  material  cast  up  by  the  waves,  the  nest 
itself  being  a  shallow,  dish-like  hollow,  of  fine  soft 
seaweeds  and  grasses.  Those  I  found  upon  the 
ground  stood  about  two  feet  high,  but  some  of  the 
nests  in  the  trees  would  measure,  from  foundation 
stick  to  summit,  fully  five  feet.  Such  ones  are 
eagerly  seized  upon  by  the  purple  grakle  or  crow 
blackbirds,  as  offering  them  exceptional  opportuni- 
ties for  housekeeping,  and  it  frequently  happens 


484  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

that  all  the  interstices  between  the  sticks  forming 
the  hawks'  habitations  are  filled  with  the  nests  of 
blackbirds.  I  counted  six  blackbirds'  nests  in  the 
portion  of  an  osprey's  nest  within  sight,  from  where 
I  was  sitting  on  a  sand  dune.  There  were  three 
eggs  in  the  hawk's  nest,  and  most  of  the  blackbirds' 
nests  contained  young  birds  just  out  of  the  egg. 
Some  ospreys'  eggs  that  I  examined  in  a  nest  in  a 
tree  were  prettily  marked  with  dark  purplish  or 
wine-colored  markings  upon  a  cream-white  ground. 
After  keeping  a  couple  of  ospreys'  eggs  in  a  cigar 
box  for  three  days,  the  young  birds  inside  were 
found  to  be  alive  by  the  naturalist  for  whom  I  col- 
lected them. 

I  noticed  thai  in  four  or  five  different  nests  upon 
the  ground 

THE  EGGS  WERE  ALL  A  DIRTY-BROWN  COLOR, 

harmonizing  so  perfectly  with  the  dry  seaweed  lin- 
ing as  to  require  a  quick  eye  to  detect  the  egg  in 
the  nest  when  the  observer  stood  but  a  few  feet 
away. 

After  making  sketches,  and  making  a  good  catch 
of  blackfish,  our  party  bade  farewell  to  the  island, 
and  were  rowed  out  to  a  passing  steamer,  which 
slowed  up  and  took  us  aboard.  A  few  hours  after- 
ward we  were  back  again  in  New  York. 

Shortly  after  arriving  home  I  received  word 
that  at  Bayview,  near  the  Atlantic  Highlands,  a 
large  fish-hawk  had  been  seen  to  swoop  down  into 
the  waters  of  the  bay,  embedding  its  talons  in  a 


-c 


1 


BLACK  CRESTED   NIGHT  HERONS 

From  water-color  sketches 


486  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

huge  plaice.  The  bird  rose  with  its  prey,  but  the 
fish's  weight  was  too  great  and  dragged  down  the 
hawk.  Several  times  the  osprey  struggled  to 
ascend,  but  failed  and  at  length  became  exhausted, 
and  fell  into  the  water  still  clinging  to  its  captive. 
The  bird's  talons  were  so  embedded  in  the  fish  that 
it  could  not  release  them  and  it  was  drowned.  The 
fish  also  died  and  both  were  washed  ashore,  and 
with  difficulty  were  separated. 

Such  stories  are  common  and  I  never  placed 
much  confidence  in  them  until  I  saw  a  hawk  again 
and  again  pulled  under  water  by  a  big  fish  in  Yel- 
lowstone Lake.  The  osprey  several  times  lifted 
the  fish  from  the  water,  but  such  was  its  weight 
that  the  bird  could  only  succeed  in  carrying  the 
fish  a  few  yards  at  a  time ;  at  length,  the  prey  was 
allowed  to  drop  again  in  the  waves  and  the  ex- 
hausted bird  had  just  sufficient  strength  left  to 
reach  the  shore  where  it  literally  fell  upon  a  dead 
limb  of  a  small  tree. 

Unless  sea  food  is  plenty  and  handy  do  not  at- 
tempt to  add  fish-hawks  to  your  back-yard  zoo. 

There  are  other  birds  which  in  their  wild  state 
use  fish  and  aquatic  animals  for  their  diet,  which 
may  be  taught  to  live  upon  scraps  from  the  table. 

A  BLACK-CRESTED  NIGHT  HERON 

that  lived  in  the  same  coop  with  a  crow 
in  my  back-yard,  developed  an  appetite  for 
ham  skins  and  fat  pork,  great  slices  of 
which  it  would  gulp  down  to  the  amusement 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  487 


AUTHOR  FEEDING  YOUNG  BLACK  CRESTED  NIGHT  HERON 

of  the  dainty  crow  who  never  ate  but  little  of  any- 
thing at  one  meal,  and  who  evidently  had  the  great- 
est contempt  for  the  graceful  looking  long-legged 
glutton. 

The  black-crested  night  herons  formerly  had  a 
heronry  in  some  woods  bordering  on  Flushing 
meadows,  but  a  Flushing  saloonkeeper  went  there 
with  his  gun  and  exterminated  the  whole  flock. 
This  he  did  not  do  for  the  love  of  blood,  or  the  de- 
light of  killing,  but  to  supply  the  milliners  with 
the  bird  skins  with  which  your  mothers  and  sis- 
ters decorated  their  hats.  Before  the  ladies  had 
exterminated  these  birds,  I  used  to  visit  their 
haunts  along  with  my  friends  the  Gibson  boys.  I 
attempted  to  rear  one  of  the  young  herons,  and  if 
young  barn-owls  are  goblins  in  appearance,  young 


488  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

herons  are  fiends.  Not  only  have  they  the  ability 
to  open  their  mouths  very  wide,  but  they  can  stretch 
them  horizontally,  without  using  their  fingers 
in  their  cheeks  as  boys  often  do  at  school  when  the 
teacher's  back  is  turned.  I  fed  my  young  heron  on 
clams,  and  sometimes  it  would  swallow  a  jagged 
piece  of  clam  shell  an  inch  or  more  in  diameter, 
then  I  would  take  my  fingers  and  strip  up  its  neck 
until  the  clam  shell  came  out  of  its  mouth.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  I  would  have  been  successful  in 
rearing  this  bird,  had  not  a  little  baby  boy  toddled 
into  the  yard  and  wrung  the  bird's  neck  because, 
he  said,  that  "Bad  bird  make  faces  at  Will." 

Prophets  have  no  honor  in  their  own  country 


THE   YOUXG   BLACK   CRESTED   NIGHT   HERON   FROM 
FLUSHING  HERONRY 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  489 

and  neither  have  birds.  The  American  people  did 
not  appreciate  their  own  birds  nor  realize  the 
almost  incredible  number  of  insects  destroyed  by 
the  white-throated  swallows,  the  purple  martin, 
and  the  wrens.  Becoming  tired  of  the  beautiful 
bluebirds  and  the  other  native  feathered  Ameri- 
cans, the  Honorable  Nicholas  Pike  of  the  Brooklyn 
Institute  worked  from  1850  to  1853,  introducing 
the  noisy,  dirty,  gutter-loving,  English  sparrow  to 
take  the  place  of  the  birds  just  mentioned. 

The  United  States  Government  has  since  pub- 
lished a  book  of  over  four  hundred  pages  warning 
people  against  the  English  sparrows;  this  volume 
also  gives  suggestions  and  advice  tending  to  the 
final  extermination  of  the  sparrow.  But  the  spar- 
row does  not  know  it  and  he  is  flourishing  and  in- 
creasing as  rapidly  now  as  he  did  before  the  book 
was  published,  and  all  his  crimes  and  misdeeds  pro- 
claimed to  the  world. 

In  a  weak  moment  the  inhabitants  of  Jamaica 
introduced  the  old  world  mongoose  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exterminating  rats  which  devastate  the  cane 
fields. 

Now  they  say  that  the  mongoose  drove  the  rats 
into  the  cocoa  trees ;  ate  up  the  useful  insect-eating 
lizards;  devoured  the  harmless  rat-killing  roof 
snakes ;  destroyed  the  game  birds  and  insect-eating 
birds;  raided  the  nests  of  pigeons  and  domestic 
fowls ;  fattened  on  suckling  pigs  and  newly  born 
farm  animals;  all  but  exterminated  the  famous 
edible  black  crabs  and  in  many  other  ways  proved 


490  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

to  man  that  once  again  he  had  made  a  fool  of 
himself. 

In  the  southeastern  part  of  Scotland  the  farmers 
killed  off  all  the  native  hawks  and  owls  and  the 
field  mice,  freed  from  all  their  enemies,  increased 
and  multiplied  until,  like  the  hordes  of  grasshop- 
pers in  Kansas,  they  destroyed  all  vegetation  upon 
hundreds  of  acres  of  farm  land;  this  the  mice  did  to 
show  man  that  he  must  not  "monkey  with  nature's 
buzz-saw,"  but  we  have  not  yet  learned  the  lesson 
and  are  at  this  present  moment  introducing  the 
stupid  brown  trout  into  streams  once  occupied  by 
our  brilliant  game  native  brook  trout.  We  are  ex- 
terminating our  prairie  chickens  and  ruffed  grouse, 
both  of  them  magnificent  game  birds,  and  intro- 
ducing in  their  place  the  long-tailed  Mongolian 
pheasants.  Evidently  we  Americans  believe  that 
the  great  Creator  did  not  know  His  business  when 
He  peopled  this  continent. 

But  fortunately  there  is  a  strong  and  growing 
sentiment  among  cultured  people  which  endorses 
all  efforts  to  restore  to  us  our  native  birds,  which 
have  all  but  been  exterminated  in  the  last  thirty  or 
forty  years. 

The  only  martin's  house  inhabited  by  martins 
that  I  have  seen  lately  is  one  in  Branchville,  New 
Jersey. 

Before  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  there  existed 
very  few  farms  or  suburban  residences  which  did 
not  own  a  martin  house  of  some  sort.  In  the  South 
it  was  often  a  long  pole  surmounted  by  a  lot  of 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  491 

bottle  gourds,  each  of  which  had  a  hole  in  it  for  the 
birds  to  enter.  Even  some  of  the  Ohio  River  and 
Mississippi  steamers  sported  gayly  decorated  mar- 
tin houses  perched  on  poles  on  their  after-deck 
and  presented  the  novel  sight  of  a  colony  of  pur- 
ple martins  making  regular  trips  to  Louisville  and 
even  to  New  Orleans. 

This  was  before  the  days  the  dirty,  noisy,  use- 
less English  sparrows  had  usurped  all  the  shelters 
which  were  formerly  occupied  by  our  native  swal- 
lows, martins  and  wrens.  It  was  before  our 
thoughtlessly  savage  sisters  began  to  wear  the  dis- 
mantled carcasses  of  our  native  birds  on  their  hats 
and  in  their  hair.  A  few  years  ago  I  saw  a  ball 
dress  worn  by  a  beautiful  girl  entirely  trimmed 
with  hundreds  of 

HUMMING  BIRDS  SKINS ! 

and  she  was  innocently  disappointed  because  I  did 
not  admire  the  grisly  dress. 

It  may  be  well  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  and  also 
the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution  to  the  fact 
that  in  the  time  of  their  brave  old  ancestors,  upon 
whom  many  of  these  modern  descendants  rest  their 
only  claim  for  distinction,  the  happiness  of  the 
American  birds  was  a  matter  of  great  solicitude; 
every  lawn,  every  garden,  and  every  farm  was  sup- 
plied with  houses  or  shelters  for  the  birds. 

In   fair  weather  the  spacious  verandas  of  the 


492  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Colonial  mansions  were  used  as  outdoor  breakfast 
and  dining-rooms.  The  table  was  covered  with  a 
snowy  homespun  cloth  and  decked  with  shining 
pewter  and  quaint  old  English  silver  which  is  so 
highly  prized  today. 

Around  the  ample  board  were  seated  the  high- 
heeled  be-powdered  dames,  their  families  and 
guests,  dressed  after  the  fashion  of  the  day  in  silks 
and  damask  gowns  and  coats,  and  it  made  as  pretty 
a  picture  as  was  ever  painted  by  Kaemmerer. 

During  fair  weather  our  revolutionary  ancestors 
drank  their  ''American"  tea  in  these  open-air  din- 
ing-rooms, devoid  of  screen  doors  or  other  artificial 
protection  from  the  incursions1  of  troublesome  in- 
sects, but  while  there  were  no  screen  doors,  the  big 
old-fashioned  breakfast  bell  which  called  the  guests 
to  the  table  also  called  the  birds,  and  the  oriole, 
robin,  wren,  kingbird,  and  phoebe,  flew  around  the 
table  eagerly  devouring  venturesome  flies  and  other 
annoying  insects.  The  birds  were  as  tame  as  those 
in  an  aviary. 

Before  this  time,  when  the  Pilgrims  made  their 
first  clearing  and  started  the  settlement  which  \vas 
to  become  a  mighty  nation,  the  thrush,  robin,  blue- 
bird, wren,  swallow,  and  other  native  American 
birds  bid  the  somber  epoch  builders  welcome;  they 
nested  in  the  eaves  of  the  rude  log  houses,  on  the 
posts  of  their  fences,  in  the  trees  of  the  first 
orchards  and  broke  the  blue  laws  every  Sunday 
in  spring  by  singing  their  lovely  songs. 

When    human    Sabbath  breakers   were   put   in 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  493 

stocks,  pilloried  and  caged,  to  be  exhibited  to  the 
church-goers  along  with  the  wolfheads  which  were 
nailed  over  the  church  doors,  the  birds  sang  to  the 
poor  wretches  and  even  made  nests  in  the  dried 
wolfheads. 

During  the  migrating  season  the  flocks  of  wild 
pigeons  darkened  the  skies  and  in  the  Carolinas 
and  other  Southern  States  the  waters  were  covered 
by  myriads  of  wild  fowl;  there 
were   acres  .and   acres   of   ducks 
floating  in  the  lagoons  which  only 
swam  aside  to  allow  the  boats  to, 
pass  through  them ;  the  mud  flats 
and   shoals   were   crowded  with 
shore      birds,      plovers,      snipe, 
f^^H_mmu^_^        herons,    and    other    waders.     It 
was  the  golden  age  of  bird  life 
in  America. 

I  have  just  returned  from  a 
trip  in  the  northern  wilderness, 
a  few  hundred  miles  south  of  Hudson  Bay, 
where  I  spent  two  weeks  in  company  with  six 
Indians  and  two  white  men  on  a  canoe  trip,  pad- 
dling up  the  Ouiatchouanish  River  to  a  long,  dry 
portage,  which  led  us  over  a  sun-baked  hill  denuded 
of  timber  by  forest  fires  to  the  shores  of  some  beau- 
tiful lakes.  After  leaving  the  lakes  we  traveled 
down  the  River  Croche  until  we  came  to  the 
pioneer  settlements  of  La  Toque.  To  a  person 
familiar  with  the  birds  of  the  United  States  this 


494  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

was  a  most  interesting  trip,  for  while  he  could 
recognize  some  of  his  old  familiar 

FRIENDS  AMONG  THE  FEATHERED  SONGSTERS, 

the  woods  were  filled  with  notes  and  calls  entirely 
new  and  unfamiliar,  and  even  the  songs  like  those 
of  the  thrush,  veery,  and  other  equally  well- 
known  birds  differed  from  the  songs  these  birds 
sing  further  south  in  the  swamps  of  Pennsylvania. 
In  the  black  spruce  forest  of  this  northern  coun- 
try a  bird  looker  has  little  opportunity  for  identi- 
fying the  specimens  with  his  field-glasses,  for  the 
reason  that  the  birds,  as  a  rule,  occupy  high  posi- 
tions in  the  dark  foliage  near  the  top  of  the  black 
spruce  and  balsam  trees,  and  when  good  luck  has 
won  an  opportunity  to  discover  a  songster  the 
glasses  can  only  aid  him  to  see 

THE  UNDER  PART  OF  THE  BIRD, 

and  a  trip  of  a  few  hundred  yards  to  one  side  or 
the  other  of  the  old  Indian  trails,  which  are  the 
only  paths  in  this  wilderness,  will  reduce  ordinary 
clothing  to  tattered  rags.  After  my  first  attempt 
I  went  around  camp  in  my  under-garments  while 
the  Indians  patched  my  clothes. 
This  land  is 

THE  HOME  OF  THE  WHITE-THROATED  SPARROW, 

and  alongside  of  the  trail  I  found  a  nest  made  in 
the  dry  grass  in  which  was  deposited  one  egg;  both 
egg  and  nest  were  so  like  the  surroundings 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  495 

in  color  that  it  was  not  until  I  had  my  face  close 
to  it  that  I  really  discovered  the  home  of  the  lit- 
tle bird  which  was  itself  perched  on  a  bush  close 
to  my  side  uttering  a  mild  protest.  The  white- 
throats  up  here  are  very  tame  and  in  the  wilderness 
their  song  seems  to  be  very  much  louder  than  it 
is  when  they  visit  us  in  the  fall  and  winter,  or  pos- 
sibly the  silence  of  the  forest  makes  the  birds' 
notes  sound  louder,  but  I  really  think  that  they 
sing  with  more  joy  and  more  volume  to  their  voices 
when  in  their  northern  homes.  Not  only  does  the 
white-throat  sing  all  day  in  June,  but  whenever 
I  was  awakened  in  the  night  and  busied  myself 
removing  a  boot  or  a  hatchet  which  had  been  doing 
duty  as  a  pillow  and  substituting  in  its  place  some 
softer  object,  I  was  sure  to  hear  the  piping  notes 
of  the  white-throated  sparrow.  For  fear  that  I 
might  not  hear  him  at  night  he  would  sometimes 
perch  upon  the  ridge  pole  of  the  tent  and  sing. 

The  one  egg  in  the  white-throat's  nest  which  I 
found  by  the  trail  was  of  a  dingy  white  color  finely 
speckled  at  the  small  end  and  thickly  blotched  with 
light  rufus  brown  at  the  big  end.  The  white- 
throat  lays  from  three  to  four  eggs,  but  this  sea- 
son was  late  and  these  little  birds  had  evidently 
just  commenced  their  domestic  arrangements. 
Along  the  shores  of  the  Ouiatchouanish  the  alders 
hang  over  the  water.  The  leaves  had  not  yet  come 
out  and  the  branches  were  black  and  bare  on  the 
alders,  and,  although  it  was  the  tenth  of  June,  the 
dark  branches  formed  a  hedge  row  on  both  sides 


496  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

along  the  borders  of  the  stream.  In  these  branches 
some  birds  had'  built  their  nests,  composed  entirely 
of  gray  lichens,  but  although  we  passed  a  number 
of  newly  built  nests  of  this  description,  we  did  not 
get  a  glimpse  of  the  birds  to  whom  they  belonged. 
In  the  black  spruce  forest  there  was  a  bird  which 
from  the  under  side  appeared  to  be  very  similar  to 
our  greenlet,  but  apparently  much  larger  and  it 
had  a  most  remarkable  song  which  began  in  a 
very  high  key  with  a  fine  note  at 

TSEE EP     TEE SEEPE 

then  with  a  full  round  note  chur — chur — chur — 
chur — followed  by  a  rollicking  laugh 

HE — HE    HE HE 

ending  up  with  a 

WEE — CHEETA!  WEE — CHEETA!  WEE — CHEETA! 
WEE — CHEETA  ! 

Each  one  of  the  changes  in  this  song  sounds  like 
the  note  of  a  different  bird.  There  was  an  in- 
conspicuous dark-brown  sparrow  in  the  trees 
around  the  hotel  at  Roberval  which  had  a  sur- 
prisingly loud,  pleasant  and  altogether  an  un- 
familiar song,  but  even  at  this  place  in  the  com- 
paratively open  country  I  was  unable  to  get  a 
good  enough  view  of  this  bird  for  certain  identi- 
fication, although  it  was  probably  a  Lincoln  spar- 
row. The  field-glass  naturalist's  place  is  not  in 
the  raw  wilderness  of  the  north  woods. 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  497 

OUR  COMMON  PURPLE  GRAKLE,  OR  CROW 
BLACKBIRD 

was  replaced  by  the  rusty  blackbird  of  the  north. 
During  the  whole  trip  I  did  not  see  more  than 
three  crows,  and  saw  the  first  goldfinch  just  after 
reaching  La  Toque  Junction  which  was  the  south- 
ern end  of  our  journey.  On  the  lower  River 
Croche,  below  the  Gros  Rapids,  where  the  sand 
banks  replace  the  rocks  which  border  the  upper 
river,  we  found  numerous  colonies  of  bank-swal- 
lows and  in  every  available  place  there  were  one 
or  more  large  holes  of 

THE  KINGFISHER. 

It  was  not  until  we  reached  the  vicinity  of  La 
Toque  that  I  heard  the  vireos  talking  in  the  trees, 
but  redstarts,  yellow-throats,  yellow  warblers,  song- 
sparrows,  blue-birds,  and  woodpeckers,  were  plen- 
tiful in  all  neighborhoods  adapted  to  their  taste. 

As  we  came  around  the  bend  in  the  smooth  part 
of  the  River  Croche,  our  Indians  gave  an 
exclamation  and  I  saw  a  female  sheldrake  flutter 
up  the  stream  a  short  distance  and  then  turn  and 
follow  the  canoes;  and  I  saw  that  the  Indians  were 
paddling  after 

THE  YOUNG  DUCKS. 

Presently  one  little  fuzzy  fellow  dove  into  the 
water  close  to  the  shore,  and  came  up  near  the 


498  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

canoe  in  which  I  was  seated.  For  an  instant  it 
looked  at  us  in  alarm,  then  it  started  up  the  stream 
on  the  surface  of  the  water,  its  little  downy  wings 
striking  the  water  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as 
do  the  spoon  oars  of  a  racing  shell  when  the 
coxswain  calls  upon  the  crew  for  a  spurt;  but  you 
must  not  think  that  any  college  crew  that  ever 
pulled  an  oar  could  possibly  row  with  a  rapidity  of 
stroke  equal  to  that  of  the  young  sheldrake.  The 
little  birds  easily  ran  ahead  of  canoes  propelled 
by  two  stalwart  Indians  working  their  paddles  with 
all  the  strength  they  had  in  them.  The  river  at 
this  point  has  a  very  rapid  current,  but  the  little 
birds  found  no  difficulty  traveling  up-stream  almost 
as  fast  as  they  did  in  the  opposite  direction.  Our 
child-like  Indian  canoe  men  shouted  with  glee  and 
cried  out,  "Steamboat,"  referring  to  the  motion 
of  the  little  down-covered  wings  which  looked  more 
like  revolving  paddle-wheels  than  the  wings  of  a 
bird. 

There  were  other  ducks,  probably  sawbills, 
which  flew  ahead  of  the  canoes;  some  showed 
a  great  deal  of  white  on  their  wings,  while 
others  were  apparently  pure  white.  The  In- 
dians called  them  divers,  but  they  were  not 
grebe,  and  as  we  refrained  from  shooting  any  of 
these  birds,  and  we  did  not  get  a  very  close  view,  we 
were  unable  to  identify  them.  The  ordinary  black 
duck  occasionally  flew  over  our  heads,  but  pie- 
bald and  white  ones  always  flew  down  the  stream 
beating  the  surface  of  the  water  with  their  wings 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  499 

to  the  first  bend  where  they  rested  until  the  canoes 
appeared  in  sight.  One  bird  in  particular  kept  up 
this  program  from  morning  until  late  in  the  after- 
noon and,  as  we  made  forty  miles  that  day  in  our 
canoes,  it  must  have  been  quite  a  distance  from 
home  before  it  at  last  dove  and  came  up  under 
shelter  of  bushes  along  the  shore,  which  offered 
concealment  until  the  canoes  had  passed  and  it 
could  fly  up-stream  unmolested.  When  we  reached 
the  settlements  the  chimney-swifts  were  twittering 
around  over  our  heads,  but  it  was  the  birds  in  the 
dark,  thick  spruce  woods  which  interested  me  most 
and  their  wild,  sweet  unfamiliar  notes  will  always 
remain  in  my  memory  as  a  source  of  pleasure  and 
regret.  Pleasure  from  the  joy  of  recalling  their 
memory,  and  regret  because  they  were  unidentified 
and  I  shall  never  know  who  our  serenaders  were. 

As  might  be  expected  in  a  country  where  all  the 
inhabitants,  white  and  red,  speak  French,  and  can 
use  but  few  English  words  the 

BIRDS  ALSO  SPOKE  FRENCH, 

at  least  one  of  them  did,  and  we  could  hear  its 
plaintive  voice,  never  near  but  always  at  a  dis- 
tance, in  the  forest  crying, 

TRES  BIEN! 

To  an  Eastern  man  probably  the  most  inter- 
esting bird  in  the  West  is  a  little  fellow  dressed  in 
a  complete  suit  of  dark-gray  clothes.  It  is 


500  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

AN  ORDINARY  APPEARING  BIRD, 

with  a  rather  short  tail,  but  there  are  no  strongly 
marked  peculiarities  about  its  appearance.  Its 
plumage  is  as  modest  as  that  of  a  catbird,  and  very 
much  the  same  color.  Its  body  is  shaped  very 
much  like  our  wood-thrush,  and  near  the  same  size, 
but  notwithstanding  its  modest  apparel  and  the 
fact  that  it  neither  has  the  long  legs  of  a  crane 
nor  the  abnormally  developed  beak  of  a  parrot, 
or  any  other  strikingly  peculiar  feature,  this  bird 
is  sure  to  attract  your  attention  immediately  be- 
cause 

IT  DOES  SUCH  UNEXPECTED  THINGS. 

You  may  be  fishing  in  a  trout  brook  and  reach  a  point 
where  the  waters  come  rushing  over  the  boulders 
and  leaping  down  precipitious  falls,  when  all  of  a 
sudden  a  little  bird  makes  its  appearance.  If  you 
are  not  a  bird  enthusiast  you  will  pay  no  attention 
to  the  little  fellow  until  you  see  it  dive  right  into 
the  rapids  and  disappear  under  the  water,  then  you 
will  sit  up  and  take  notice. 

On  Glacier  Creek,  McDonald's  Lake,  Montana, 
I  studied  the  water-ouzels  and  watched  them  as 
they  kept  up  a  peculiar  bobbing  motion,  not  teeter- 
ing, but  bobbing  up  and  down,  and  I  noticed  that 
they  never  get  wet;  the  water  has  no  effect  upon 
their  plumage,  but  rolls  off  as  soon  as  they  emerge 
from  it.  Mr.  Vreeland  claimed  that  he  saw  them 
use  their  wings  while  under  water,  but  I  did  not. 


V 


-4) 


SKETCHES   OF   FLAMINGOES 


502  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

They  seemed  to  dive  and  take  advantage  of  the 
eddies  behind  the  rocks  just  as  do  the  trout. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  know  the  object  or 
reason  for  that  peculiar  bobbing  up  and  down  in- 
dulged in  by  so  many  of  the  birds  that  frequent  the 
shores  or  the  water.  The  first  time  I  ever  saw 

A  LOUISIANA  THRUSH 

it  attracted  my  attention  by  going  through  the  same 
sort  of  manoeuvers,  and  if  any  of  my  boy  readers 
see  a  bird  bobbing  up  and  down,  no  matter  what 
kind  of  a  bird  it  appears  to  be,  they  can  make  up 
their  mind  that  there  is  water  near  at  hand  or  at 
least  the  bird's  home  and  hunting  ground  is  upon 
the  edge  of  streams  or  other  bodies  of  water. 

My  first  experience  with  any  creature  is  the  one 
that  remains  indelibly  impressed  upon  my  memory. 
I  may  see  thousands  of  water-ouzels  and  enjoy 
watching  them;  I  may  meet  thousands  of  Louisiana 
thru-shes  and  take  careful  note  of  everything  they 
do,  but  as  soon  as  I  begin  to  tell  about  these  birds 
I  forget  all  the  notes  of  the  thousands  I  have  seen ; 
often  forget  even  to  refer  to  my  note  books,  and 
only  remember  the  first  birds  I  met. 

Every  artist  has  had  similar  experience  with  his 
first  impressions;  he  may  find  nothing  to  sketch 
around  his  own  home,  but  if  he  visits  a  new  place, 
he  finds  it  filled  with  possibilities  of  interesting  pic- 
tures, while  the  strange  artist  visiting  the  home  of 
the  first  one  is  delighted  with  its  picturesqueness. 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  503 

.1  have  seen  thousands  of  yellow  warblers  and 
watched  them  for  hours  at  a  time,  but  the  first 
double  nest  I  found  is  the  incident  I  always  re- 
member in  connection  with  these  birds. 

TWO-STORY   BIRDS'    NESTS. 

While  the  expanding  leaves  of  tree  and  shrub 
retain  the  tender  tints  of  pink,  and  the  broad  lily 
pads  commence  to  mosaic  the  surface  of  the  ponds 
with  green,  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  bursting 
bud  and  opening  flower  comes  the  summer  yellow- 
bird,  and  from  hedge  and  bush  may  be  heard  his 
song,  as  simple  and  pleasing  as  the  tasteful  but 
modest  plumage  that  covers  his  little  person.  Al- 
most immediately  after  the  first  appearance  of 
these  industrious  little  birds  they  commence  their 
preparations  for  housekeeping.  The  male  bird 
flies  busily  about  selecting  such  material  as  feathers, 
plants,  fibers,  the  furze  from  ferns,  the  catkins 
from  willows,  and  other  similar  objects,  all  of 
which  he  brings  to  his  mate,  who  arranges  and 
fashions  their  delicate  nest.  So  quickly  and  deftly 
do  this  little  couple  labor  that  they  build  the  greater 
part  of  their  house  in  a  single  day. 

There  is  often  a  third  party  interested  in  the 
construction  of  this  nest,  a  homeless,  irresponsible, 
immoral, 

BIRD  OF  MANY  HUSBANDS, 
who  has  a  sort  of  tramp's  interest  in  the  housekeep- 


504  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ing  arrangements  of  most  of  the  smaller  feathered 
denizens  of  copse  and  woods.  This  is  the  well- 
known  cow  blackbird,  who  disdains  to  shackle  her 
freedom  with  the  care  of  a  family,  and  shifts  a 
mother's  responsibility  by  farming  her  progeny 
out,  while  she  seeks  the  incongruous  but  apparently 
congenial  companionship  of  the  cattle,  with  whom 
she  appears  to  be  on  the  most  intimate  terms. 

THE  COW  BLACKBIRD 

deposits  its  eggs  indiscriminately  among  the  nests 
of  smaller  birds.  The  blackbird's  eggs  generally 
hatch  out  a  day  or  two  before  the  adopted  mother's 
own  eggs,  so,  when  the  legitimate  members  of  the 
family  do  come,  it  is  to  find  their  nest  already  oc- 
cupied by  the  strong,  lusty  interlopers,  who,  on 
account  of  their  superior  size  and  strength,  come 
in  for  the  lion's  share  of  all  the  food  brought  to 
the  nest.  Thus  the  innocent  parents 

REAR  THE  ALIENS,  WHILE  THEIR  OWN  YOUNG 
STARVE. 

It  is  really  a  pitiable  sight  to  see  a  couple  of  little 
greenlets  anxiously  searching  from  daybreak  till 
evening  for  food  to  fill  the  capacious  crop  of  one 
or  more  young  cow  blackbirds,  considerably  larger 
than  the  foster  parents  themselves. 

The  summer  yellowbird,  though  confiding  little 
creatures,  are  not  readily  duped  or  imposed  upon. 
Their  instinct  is  sufficiently  near  reason  for  them 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  505 

to  detect  the  difference  between  their  own  little 
fragile,  prettily  marked,  greenish-colored  eggs  and 
the  great  dark-colored  ones  the  vagabond  cow 
blackbird  has 

SURREPTITIOUSLY  SMUGGLED  INTO  THE  COZY 
NEST. 

The  domestic  little  couple  cling  to  the  spot  selected 
for  their  house  and  will  not  leave  it,  neither  will 
they  hatch  the  obnoxious  eggs,  which  they  are  ap- 
parently unable  to  throw  out;  but  the  difficulty  is 
soon  surmounted,  and  so  are  the  gratuitous  eggs, 
for  the  indefatigable  workers  proceed  at  once  to 
cover  up  the  cow  blackbird's  eggs,  constructing 

A  NEW  NEST  ON  TOP  OF  THE  OLD  ONE, 

building  a  second  story,  as  it  were,  to  their  house. 
One  of  these  two-story  nests  found  in  Flushing, 
Long  Island,  contained  two  cow  blackbird's  eggs 
in  the  bottom  compartment,  and  in  the  upper  one 
three  eggs  of  the  summer  yellowbird.  Mr.  Lang- 
don  Gibson  watched  the  construction  of  the  nest. 
Visiting  it  again  after  it  was  finished,  he  discovered 
the  egg  of  a  cow  blackbird.  Next  day  two  of  these 
eggs  occupied  the  same  nest.  Some  time  after- 
ward, to  his  surprise,  he  found  the  nest  contained 
three  eggs  of  the  yellowbird  and  no  signs  of  the 
existence  of  those  deposited  by  the  blackbird,  but 
the  nest  had  the  appearance  of  being  much  taller 
than  at  first,  and  an  examination  disclosed  the  true 
facts  of  the  case. 


506  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Mr.  Nuttal  was  the  first  naturalist,  I  believe, 
to  record  the  observation  of  these  two-story  nests. 
Baird  mentions 

A  THREE-STORY  NEST, 

each  of  the  lower  nests  containing  the  eggs  of  the 
cow  blackbird,  the  whole  structure  being  seven 
inches  high. 

After  writing  the  above  I  received  a  copy  of 
"Bright  Feathers,"  in  which  Mr.  Rathburn  de- 
scribes and  illustrates  a  three-story  nest  that  was 
found  upon  a  honeysuckle.  I  mentioned  the  fact 
of  three-story  nests  being  sometimes  found,  but  this 
one  described  by  Rathburn  is  an  interesting  speci- 
men from  the  fact  that  the  second  compartment  is 
said  to  have  contained  one  cow  blackbird's  egg  and 
one  of  the  legitimate  eggs  of  the  yellow  warbler. 
According  to  Baird  Mr.  Nuttal  says  that,  "Where 
the  parasitic  egg  is  laid  after  her  own,  the  sum- 
mer yellowbird  acts  faithfully  the  part  of  foster 
parent."  But  from  the  specimen  described  by  Mr. 
Rathburn  we  must  be  led  to  believe  with  Mr. 
Baird  that  the  yellowbird  will  not  act  the  part  of 
foster  parent,  and  rather  than  do  so  will  sacrifice 
her  own  eggs  with  those  of  the  obnoxious  cow 
blackbird. 

MANY-STORIED  BIRDS*  NESTS. 

In  1882  a  friend  of  Mr.  W.  L.  Scott,  of  the 
Ottawa  Field  Naturalists'  Club,  found  a  nest  of 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  507 

the  summer  yellowbird  composed  of  five  stories, 
each  of  which,  except  the  top  one,  contained  a  cow- 
bird's  egg.  The  fifth  story  was  not  quite  com- 
pleted when  the  nest  was  taken,  but  the  egg  of  the 
intruder  was  already  more  than  half  buried  in  the 
new  structure. 

But  other  birds  sometimes  build 

COMPOUND  NESTS, 

but  not  for  the  same  purposes  as  the  summer  yel- 
lowbird although  these  novelties  are  always  inter- 
esting. 

Almost  everyone  whose  business  or  occupation 
has  introduced  him  to  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  salt  marshes  that  line  our  eastern  coast,  is 
familiar  with  the  odd,  chattering  notes  of  the  marsh 
wren.  This  little  bird  finds  its  board  and  lodging 
among  the  reeds  and  rank  grasses  of  the  damp 
salt  meadows.  Morning  and  evening  its  song,  if 
such  vocal  efforts  can  be  so  called,  may  be  heard, 
but  especially  does  it  delight  to  sing  at  night.  Often 
after  a  long  sail,  when  belated  and  overtaken  by 
night,  the  writer  has  welcomed  the  unmusical  but 
not  unpleasant,  notes  of  the  long-billed  marsh  wren 
as  a  signal  from  shore  and  home. 

A  sailing  party  composed  of  some  of  my  friends 
were  once  caught  in  a  dense  fog  and  only  discov- 
ered their  dangerous  proximity  to  the  shore  when 
they  heard  the  warning  notes  of  one  of  these 

LITTLE  COASTGUARDS. 
Other  birds  find  refuge  and  sustenance  among 


508  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

the  salty  sedges  inhabited  by  the  marsh  wrens. 
Among  them  may  be  seen  the  brilliantly  decorated 

RED-WING  OR  SWAMP  BLACKBIRD. 

The  lustrous  black  plumage  of  the  male  bird  shines 
in  the  sun,  giving  out  greenish  metallic  reflections. 
Its  shoulders  and  lesser  wing  coverts  are  orna- 
mented with  crimson  epaulets,  giving  it  a  very 
martial  and  rich  appearance,  in  strong  contrast  with 
the  modest  brown  plumage  of  its  friend  and  neigh- 
bor the  marsh  wren. 

On  Flushing  salt  meadows  was  discovered 
another  two-story  nest.  This  time  both  nests  bore 
unmistakable  evidence  of  being  inhabited.  The 
lower  compartment,  from  its  peculiar  spherical 
form  and  the  reeds  and  cat-tail  cotton  of  which  it 
is  composed,  would  be  at  once  recognized  as 

THE  NEST  OF  THE  MARSH  WREN, 

even  if  it  did  not  contain  the  little  chocolate-colored 
eggs  of  that  bird.  The  upper  nest  is  cup-shaped, 
three  inches  inside  depth  and  diameter.  The  out- 
side is  made  of  coarse  straw  and  fibers,  and  the 
inside  lined  with  fine  grass.  A  single  glance  suf- 
fices to  prove  it  to  be 

THE  NEST  OF  A  SWAMP  BLACKBIRD. 

Two  bluish-green  eggs,  with  strange  hieroglyphic 
markings  on  the  end,  occupy  the  upper  floor, 
and  three  little  brown  eggs  are  hidden  in  the  lower 


BIRDS  THAT  PREY  AND  SOME  THAT  DO  NOT  509 

nest.  The  blackbirds  must  have  commenced  the 
upper  nest  as  soon  as  the  wrens  finished  the  lower 
one. 

In  both  the  upper  and  lower  stories  of  this  sea- 
side apartment  house  the  eggs  were  warm  when 
discovered,  which  proves  that  the  mother  birds  had 
been  off  the  nests  but  a  few  moments.  The  writer 
knows  of  no  other  recorded  instance  of  a  com- 
pound nest  occupied  by  the  red-winged  blackbird 
and  the  little  marsh  wren. 


CHAPTER  XXX 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK 

ODD  HOME  OF  A  FOREST  KING — SCARLET  TANAGER*S  FOOD  AND 
SONG — BLUEBIRDS,  ROBINS,  NUTHATCHES,  ORIOLES,  OVEN- 
BIRDS,  HUMMINGBIRDS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  ITEMS  FROM 

THE  AUTHOR'S   NOTE    BOOKS  AND   SKETCH    BOOKS. 


A  MODEST   FOREST  KING  AND   HIS   PEOPLE. 

Upon  the  west  shore  of  Big 
Tink,  well  up  toward  the  inlet 
and  not  far  from  the  sand  spring, 
a  burnt  hemlock  and  a  leaning 
chestnut  mark  the  location  of  a 
little  cove. 

With  its  many  toes  of  knotted 
roots  tightly  clasping    the    blue 
stone  of  the  rocky  shore  there  was  a  dwarf  alder. 

In  its  desperate  efforts  to  escape  the  benumbing 
effects  of  the  cold  shadow  of  the  dark  forest  the 
alder  reached  as  far  out  over  the  water  as  its 
strength  permitted. 

But    for   the    firm    grip   with   which    its    roots 
clasped  the   rocks,  the  plucky  plant  would  have 
measured  its  length  in  the  water  of  Big  Tink. 
If  the  alder's  struggles  had  no  higher  aim  than 
510 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK  511 

to  assert  its  inherent  right  to  live,  the  battle  was 
in  vain,  for  its  moss  and  lichen-covered  arms  and 
fingers  were  sapless  and  dry,  destitute  of  leaf  or 
bud.  But  all  around  the  fresh  green  leaves  were 
bursting  forth,  and  underneath  the  dead  supplicat- 
ing branches  of  the  little  tree,  the  lily  pads  were 
pushing  their  round  heads  above  water  or  covering 
the  shallows  with  a  carpet  of  the  light  red  and 
pale  greens  of  their  unfolding  leaves. 

Towering  trees  were  all  around  whose  sturdy 
fat  trunks  proved  them  to  be  winners  in  life's  race 
and  subjects  for  the  saw-mill  to  consider.  Yet  the 
little  alder's  dead  branches  were  chosen  as  a  fit 
location  for 

THE  THRONE  OF  THE  KING ! 

No  degenerate  offspring  of  an  effete  monarch 
and  a  worn-out  family;  but  a  sturdy  self-reliant 
king,  a  democratic  king,  who  modestly  conceals  his 
bright  crown  of  ruby  jewels  beneath  a  gray  quaker 
headdress  and  only  displays  the  insignia  of  royalty 
when  an  enemy  is  in  sight. 

When  the 

TIMID  RUFFED  GROUSE 

lies  close  upon  her  nest  at  the  foot  of  two  pine 
trees,  trusting  to  her  dead-leaf-colored  plumage 
for  concealment,  and  while  all  the  other  denizens 
of  the  woods  are  trembling  with  fear,  then  -the 
monarch  proudly  displays  the  royal  colors. 


512  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

The  kinglet  selected  the  poor  dead  alder  as  a 
foundation  upon  which  to  build  its  rustic  home  and 
with  such  discernment  had  the  roots,  mosses  and 
coarse  grasses  been  selected  and  so  deftly  woven 
into  a  nest  that  it  required  experienced  eyes  to 
detect  its  presence  upon  the  alder;  but,  if  you  had 
been  there,  you  might  have  paddled  your  canoe 
under  the  dead  limbs  and  from  your  seat  looked 
into  the  nest  and  seen  the  hidden  treasure  of  the 
royal  pair. 

Four  little  cream-colored  globular  objects,  dec- 
orated with  small  specks  and  spots  of  light  brown, 
lay  on  the  soft,  fine  grass  and  intermingled  with  a 
few  horsehairs  which  lined  the  cup  in  the  incon- 
spicuous bunch  of  fine  pieces  of  bark,  roots  and 
moss. 

BIG  FISH   HAUNT  THE  BLACK  WATERS 

of  the  deep  hole  at  the  outer  edge  of  the  lily  pads, 
and  each  day  as  my  boat  drifted  by  the  cove  I 
made  a  cast  with  gaudy  colored  artificial  flies,  to 
tempt  the  fish  to  strike. 

Every  cast  that  I  made  brought  one  or  both  of 
the  royal  couple  from  their  perch,  swooping  down 
in  pursuit  of  the  imitation  insects  on  my  line. 

It  was  only  by  constant  watchfulness  and  quick 
back  casts  that  I  was  able  to  save  myself  the  morti- 
fication of  seeing  the  saucy  little  creatures  cruelly 
caught  on  the  wicked  hooks. 

On  several  occasions  I  noticed  that  peculiar 
swirl  in  the  dark  waters,  a  swirl  which  never  fails 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK  513 

to  make  a  fisherman's  nerves  tingle,  for  he  knows 
that  the  hidden  force  which  causes  the  commotion 
is  the  broad  tail  of  the  big  fish;  but  each  time  be- 
fore the  fish  would  strike  the  hook  I  quickly 
whipped  the  line  away. 

It  was  not  because  I  did  not  want  the  fish.  Ah, 
no!  that  fish  was  the  thing  I  was  after  and  the 
blank  countenance  of  an  empty  frying-pan  was 
ever  before  my  mind  protesting  my  action,  but  I 
snatched  away  my  line 

TO  SAVE  THE  KING  AND  HIS  ROYAL  CONSORT. 

It  may  be  that  to  this  hour  there  are  two  birds 
and  one  or  more  big  bass  puzzling  their  rudi- 
mentary minds  in  vain  efforts  to  account  for  the 
nimbleness  of  the  brilliant  insects  which  visited  the 
cove  with  such  regularity,  and  with  equal  regular- 
ity escaped  capture,  in  spite  of  the  best  laid  plans 
of  bird  and  fish. 

In  due  course  of  time,  the  little  globular  treasures 
of  the  nest  cracked  and  came  apart  disclosing  four 
as  comical, 

PINK,  SKINNY  YOUNGSTERS 

as  ever  cracked  an  egg-shell  or  wore  a  downy  top- 
knot. 

If  approached  silently,  an  inspection  of  the  nest 
would  disclose  nothing  to  the  first  glance,  but 
closer  observation  would  reveal  a  flesh-colored  or 
pink  mass  at  the  bottom  of  the  cup  which  seemed 
to  be  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  gray  mil- 


5H  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

dew.  However,  the  instant  you  made  known  your 
presence  by  some  slight  noise  there  would  be  a 
sudden  change  and  from  out  the  reddish  mass 
would  shoot  four  funny  little  heads  and  four  wide 
open  mouths,  and  it  was  then  you  discovered  that, 
that  which  appeared  to  be  mildew  was  in  reality 
the  sparse,  downy  growth  on  the  young  birds. 

Long  before  the  eggs  were  hatched  the  kinglets 
learned  that  the  man  in  the  boat  would  not  harm 
them.  Nevertheless,  when,  in  their  judgment,  he 
was  awkward  in  handling  the  branch,  nest  or  con- 
tents the  birds  would  utter  sharp  commands  of 
caution  or  reproof;  but  as  a  rule  they  placed  such 
confidence  in  their  visitor's  good-will  that  they  had 
no  hesitation  in  leaving  the  perch  near  his  head  to 
dash  after  passing  insects. 

Down  in  the  swail  near  the  outlet,  the  pitcher 
plants  and  cranberries  grow  in  the  sphagnum  moss 
around  the  outlet  of  the  lake ;  here  the  yellow  birch 
and  tall  spruce  soak  their  feet  in  cold  muck  and 
their  heads  in  hot  sunshine.  In  one  of  these  trees 

A  RED-TAILED  HAWK  HAD  ITS  NEST. 

Occasionally  the  hawk  came  sailing  by  the  alder 
bush,  its  keen  eyes  searching  every  spot  of  ground 
in  hopes  of  finding  an  unwary  mouse,  but  it  never 
caught  any  near  the  cove,  for  the  instant  the  hawk 
hove  in  sight  the  crest  upon  the  king's  head  be- 
came erect,  displaying  the  bright  colored  war 
feathers  concealed  there,  and  with  a  volley  of  bird 
adjectives  issuing  from  his  throat  the  little  kinglet 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK  515 

launched  himself  from  his  observation  perch,  like 
a  bolt  from  a  cross-bow. 

Up !  Up !  he  goes  until  he  reaches  a  point  above 
the  unprotected  back  of  the  invader;  then  down 
he  dashes  on  to  the  broad,  unprotected  back  of  the 
mouser. 

The  kinglet's  little  wife  did  her  share  in  making 
the  neighborhood  unpleasant  for  marauders  of  all 
sorts  and  it  was  amusing  to  see  how  the  robin  up 
by  the  roadside,  the  flicker  in  the  hollow  tree,  the 
song-sparrow  from  the  copse,  the  catbird  from  the 
swamp  blueberry  bush  by  the  spring,  and  the  che- 
wink  whose  home  is  in  the  underbrush  of  the  burnt 
district,  all  counted  and  relied  upon  the  kinglets1 
ability  to  discomfort  their  enemies. 

THE  POETIC  LITTLE  FIELD  SPARROW 

who  had  built  its  nest  among  the  wild  flowers  near 
the  edge  of  the  "tote"  road,  trusted  to  its  unob- 
trusive plumage  for  concealment  and  to  the  power 
and  energy  of  the  king  to  drive  the  enemy  away,  but 
after  the  hawk  had  disappeared  the  little  sparrow 
would  mount  upon  a  tree  and  burst  into  a  glad  song 
of  rejoicing,  and  this  is  what  it  sang:  "Gee-o! 
Gee-o!  Gee!  free;  free;  free;  free;  free;"  the  first 
four  words  louder,  prolonged,  and  in  a  higher  key 
than  the  remaining  words,  gliding  quickly  to  a 
lower  pitch,  gradually  becoming  softer  and  more 
gentle  until  the  last  self-assuring  "free"  is  reached 
and  is  evidently  not  intended  for  the  public  ear,  for 
it  can  only  be  detected  at  a  short  distance,  but  his 


516  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

gentle  mate  in  the  growing  bouquet  hears  and  re- 
joices. 

Away  back  under  the  black  foliage  of  the  giant 
white  pines,  a  wee  bit  of  fuzzy  stuff  attached  to 
a  dead  limb  showed,  to  the  knowing  ones,  the  home 
of  one  of  the  pigmies  of  the  bird  colony.  It  is  the 
home  of  a  humming-bird  whose  body  is  not  much 
larger  than  a  grapevine  beetle,  but  it  conceals  the 
heart  of  a  lion,  for  never  yet  did  the  midget  hesi- 
tate to  take  up  the  battle  where  the  kinglet  left 
off.  It  did  not  fear  even  Uncle  Sam,  the  big 
eagle. 

Old  Redtail  always  seemed  to  rejoice  when  he 
had  sailed  safely  by  these  warriors,  for  when  he 
would  reach  his  own  fortress  in  the  swail  you  would 
hear  him  screaming, 

KEE YI A;     KEE YI — IA  ; 

which  in  bird  language  means,  I  dare  you  to  come 
in  my  back-yard. 

In  due  course  of  time  the  fuzz  upon  the  young 
princes'  skinny  bodies  was  underlaid  with  large, 
juicy-looking  quills  and  a  little  later  the  ends  of 
these  quills  were  each  marked  with  a  baby  feather. 
Progress  after  this  was  rapid,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  the 

EMPTY  NEST  OVER  THE  DARK-GREEN  LILY  PADS 

told  the  .story  of  another  deserted  home.  The 
royal  couple  had  succeeded  in  rearing  all  their  chil- 
dren and  in  protecting  all  their  neighbors,  because 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK  517 

no  fair,  tender-hearted  lady  was  there  to  demand 
the  lives  of  the  parent  birds,  that  she  might  have 
their  poor  upholstered  skins  with  which  to  decorate 
her  hat  and  add  two  more  lives  to  the  200,000,000 
wild  birds  brutally  murdered  for  that  purpose  each 
year. 

A  ruby-crowned  kinglet  was  unfamiliar  to 
me;  that  is,  I  only  knew  it  from  my  books, 
and  it  was  from  Chapman's  description  that 
I  identified  the  little  fellow.  Chapman  says  that 
the  male  bird  has  upon  its  crown  a  partly  concealed 
crest  of  bright  red.  This  bird  had  that  sort  of  a 
crest.  The  rest  of  the  upper  parts  are  of  a  gray, 
olive  green,  brighter  on  the  rump.  This  descrip- 
tion also  fits  my  bird  and  so  does  the  rest  of  the 
description,  down  to  the  two  whitish  wing  bars 
and  slightly  forked  tail.  Chapman  also  says  of 
the  nest  that  it  is  usually  semipensile,  of  moss,  fine 
strips  of  bark,  neatly  interwoven  and  lined  with 
feathers.  This  agrees  practically  with  the  nest  in 
the  alder  bush,  although  it  had  more  small  roots 
than  bark,  and  inside  were  a  few  horsehairs.  His 
description  of  the  eggs,  as  dull  whitish  or  pale 
buffy,  faintly  speckled  and  spotted  with  pale  brown 
describes  the  eggs  in  the  nest  on  the  alder  bush, 
but  there  were  but  four  eggs  in  this  nest,  and 
from  all  accounts  I  think  it  must  be  unusual  for 
the  ruby-crowned  kinglet  to  build  in  low  bushes 
overhanging  the  water. 

A  word  respecting  the  nest-robbing  habits  of 
some  birds.  It  is  my  opinion  that  any  insect-eating 


518  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

bird  will  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  make  a  meal  of 
the  unprotected  young  of  any  other  small  bird; 
and  while  I  have  never  seen  bluebirds,  thrushes, 
catbirds  and  robins,  for  instance, 

PILLAGING  OTHER  NESTS, 

I  have  noticed  some  suspicious  movements  among 
small  birds  which  more  than  once  has  caused  me 
to  think  that  my  friends  had  been  committing  some 
mischief. 

Once  while  fishing  in  the  trout  brook  I  was 
conscious  of  a  loud  buzzing  noise,  but  knowing 
that  rattlesnakes  do  not  make  that  sort  of  a  noise, 
and  that  there  was  nothing  else  in  the  country  to 
fear,  I  continued  to  work  at  my  leader,  endeavor- 
ing to  loosen  a  whipped-out  fly,  when  I  noticed 
that  the  guttural  noise  was  notes  of  distress  of  a 
nuthatch,  accompanied  by  a  loud  humming  noise 
close  to  my  head ;  carefully  resting  my  rod  against 
a  white  birch  tree,  I  looked  around  for  the  cause 
of  the  commotion  and  saw  that  a  ruby-throated 
humming-bird  was  making  life 

NOT  WORTH  LIVING  FOR  A  WHITE-BREASTED 
NUTHATCH ; 

the  latter  seemed  to  hope  for  protection  from  me, 
for  it  flew  around  my  head  in  a  bewildering  man- 
ner, trying  in  vain  to  dodge  the  tiny  speck  of 
jeweled  feathers  which  was  pursuing  it. 

The  question  is  this:  Is  the  nuthatch  a  nest- 
robber?  If  not,  why  the  vicious  and  persistent 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK  519 

chase  by  the  humming-bird  ?  Over  and  over  again 
I  have  seen  the  red-eyed  vireo  chase  robins  away 
from  a  certain  location  claimed  by  the  smaller  bird, 
and  I  have  never  heard  of 

A  ROBIN  ROBBING  A  NEST, 

but  I  do  suspect  that  any  bird  which  Hues  on  insects 
would  not  hesitate  to  eat  unprotected  young  birds. 
Many  young  birds  are  little  skinny,  pink  things 
about  the  size  of  fat  grub  worms,  and  must  be  a 
tempting  morsel  to  birds  which  are 

NOT  GENERALLY  SUPPOSED  TO  BE  CANNIBALS. 

After  the  young  birds  are  feathered  they  are  prob- 
ably safe  from  the  older  birds  of  the  neighborhood, 
excepting,  of  course,  the  crows,  jays,  hawks  and 
shrikes. 

It  is  an  outrage  to  call  our  beautiful  oriole  after 
Lord  Baltimore  simply  because,  the  latter,  an  off- 
spring of  an  effete  and  dying  aristocracy, 

HAPPENED  TO  CHOOSE  THE  ORIOLES'  COLORS 

as  a  livery  for  his  hirelings ;  colors  mind  you,  which 
were  worn  by  the  bird  before  England  had  emerged 
from  the  stone  age,  and  if  you  listen  to  one  of  the 
birds  you  will  constantly  hear  him  calling  your  at- 
tention to  the  fact  and  asking  for  judgment;  he 
cries,  "Look  here,  look  here  looker,  verdict!"  or 
simply  makes  the  demand  for  a  verdict. 

ROBBING  A   ROBIN. 

The  Baltimore  orioles  nest  every  year  in  the 


520          DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

maples  at  the  side  of  my  house.  There  is  a  pair 
of  orioles  which  have  built  a  nest  in  an  elm  tree 
from  carpet  ravelings  that  I  supplied.  The  robin 
in  the  corner  tree  saw  that  his  neighbor  was 
making  a  pretty  nest,  and,  not  to  be  outdone,  he 
took  a  bright  piece  of  a  kite-tail  a  boy  had  lost  in 
the  tree,  and  wove  it  in  his  nest.  The  oriole  saw 
it  and  came  and  tugged  at  the  ribbon  until  he  had 
stolen  it  away  from  the  robin. 

It  has  lately  become  quite  a  custom 

TO  SUPPLY  RAGS  TO  THE  ROBINS 

with  which  to  decorate  their  nests,  and  yarn  to  the 
orioles  for  the  same  purpose. 
Last  spring  my  neighbors  had 

"THE  LAUGH  ON  ME" 

because  the  robins  refused  to  use  my  cast-off  red 
neckties  and  preferred  some  white  cotton  strips 
furnished  by  a  lady  across  the  street. 

I  noticed  a  kingbird  helping  himself  to  some  of 
the  white  rags  although  I  have  never  seen  rags  in 
their  nests. 

A  robin  on  Jamaica  Avenue,  Flushing,  decorated 
its  nest  with  bits  of  fine  lace  which  it  found  bleach- 
ing upon  our  alderman's  lawn. 

As  I  stepped  from  my  door  in  Flushing  Tor  my 
customary  walk,  a  voice  from  the  branches  of  the 
maple  tret  overhead  exclaimed,  "Chip  Jar!"  and 
I  knew  that  it  was  one  of  our  most  beautiful  sum- 
mer visitors 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK  521 

THE  SCARLET  TANAGER, 

it  was  not  long  before  I  caught  sight  of  a  fiery 
red  bird  with  black  wings  and  scarlet  body,  and 
later  saw  his  modestly  garbed  mate. 

Continuing  my  walk,  I  entered  the  wood  of  tall 
chestnuts,  sweet  gums,  oaks,  maples,  and  dogwood, 
whose  many  branches  form  a  shade  which 
shelters  the  jacks-in-the-pulpit,  wild  geraniums, 
violets,  and  anemones.  This  wood  is  in  the  heart 
of  the  old  village  of  Flushing,  and  only  about  two 
blocks  long  and  one  in  width,  but  it  is  composed 
of  tall  and  ancient  trees,  and  in  them  I  discovered 
several  of  these  birds. 

Once  I  saw  five  male  tanagers  in  an  oak  tree, 
but  this  happened  in  the  spring.  The  same  scarlet 
tanager  builds  its  nest  on  this  corner  (Bowne  and 
Amity  Streets)  year  after  year. 

Last  year  its  nest  was  in  the  oak  tree  in  front 
of  our  home;  this  year  I  have  not  discovered  it, 
but  the  male  bird  is  never  over  a  hundred  yards 
from  the  corner,  and  with  the  exception  of  three 
days  it  has  not  ceased  to  sing  from  early  morn 
until  dewy  eve;  it  is  indeed  a  most  tireless  singer, 
but  it's  summer  song  of 

"OH  DEAR!  TOO  RICH,  TOO  RICH,  TOO  RICH 
FOR  ME  !" 

has  not  the  rollicking  enthusiasm  of  its  robin-like 
song  in  the  springtime,  when  it  crys : 

"  Chur  cheer  chinic  chinic  wee  wick  cheer  week. 


522  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Cheer  chee — r — r  chunic  chunic. 

Wee  wick  cheere  wick." 

Very  much  like  a  robin,  but  with  a  sound  as  if 
one  were  saying  e — r — r  down  in  one's  throat. 

A  scarlet  tanager  at  Wild  Lands  on  an  August 
day,  found  a  very  large  luna  moth  caterpillar,  the 
larva  was  about  the  size  of  one's  first  finger;  in- 
deed it  was  so  large  that  it  seemed  to  be  with 
great  difficulty  that  the  bird  could  fly  with  it  and 
as  it  did  so  the  larva  was  allowed  to  drop 
three  times  before  the  tanager  succeeded  in 
reaching  a  dead  branch  about  thirty  feet  above  the 
ground. 

Upon  the  branch  there  is  a  bunch  of  lichens ; 
here  the  bird  placed  the  fat,  flesh-colored  cater- 
pillar and  then  taking  hold  of  one  end  of  the 
worm-like  body,  it  bruised  it  with  its  bill  until 
the  larva's  insides  were  mashed  to  a  pulp,  then 
with  evident  enjoyment,  it  sucked  out  the  juices 
of  the  dainty  morsel  as  one  would  suck  an  orange. 
I  have  since  seen  this  bird  so  often  feeding  upon 
the  larva  of  the  luna  moth,  that  I  am  led  to  be- 
lieve this  big  ungainly  caterpillar  to  be  an  im- 
portant part  of  its  diet. 

THE  TANAGER'S  RED  COAT  IN  AUGUST  is  MOTTLED 
with  blotches  of  dingy  white  or  greenish  white 
where  the  feathers  have  fallen  out.  This  particu- 
lar Wild  Lands  bird  nests  somewhere  in  the  swail 
adjoining*  my  log  house,  and  I  have  seen  what  I 
have  every  reason  to  believe  to  be  the  same  bird 
here  season  after  season. 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK 


523 


There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  the  same 
birds  build  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  same 
spot  year  after  year,  or  until  they  are  driven  away 
or  killed. 

One  season  we  arrived  at  Log  House  on  May 
1 5th. 

THE  PHOEBE  NEST  OVER  THE  KITCHEN 
door    was    destroyed,    consequently,    she    built    a 
new    nest    under    a    shed    near    the    door;    there 


PHOTOGRAPH    OF    LIVE    FREE    WATER    OUZEL    ON    GLACIER 
CREEK,   MONTANA— BIRD  IS  ABOVE  ARROW  POINT. 


524  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

were  no  eggs  in  the  nest  when  we  arrived, 
but  by  the  2Oth  there  were  four  eggs,  and 
on  June  5th  one  egg  was  hatched.  We  knew  some- 
thing was  happening  because  of  the  agitation  of 
Mr.  Phoebe  who  up  to  this  date  spent  most  of  his 
time  roosting  on  the  other  end  of  the  eave-trough, 
occasionally  taking  a  bath  in  my  tin  wash-basin, 
but  now  he  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  nest  and  talked 
in 

LOW,  SWEET  TONES  TO  HIS  WIFE; 

when  she  would  leave  the  nest  he  would  continue 
his  low  talk  occasionally  picking  at  the  inside  of 
the  nest. 

The  nest  is  so  located  in  the  passage  that  some 
one  of  our  household  is  constantly  passing  and  re- 
passing  under  it  almost  brushing  their  heads  against 
the  planks  supporting  the  nest;  but  the  birds  for 
more  than  a  dozen  years  have  nested  over  the 
kitchen  door  and  do  not  seem  to  mind  us  further 
than  to  keep  their  keen  eyes  on  us  while  we  were 
near  their  nest.  In  1907  the  flying  squirrels  took 
possession  of  the  phoebe  birds'  nest  and  the  birds 
moved  to  the  other  side  of  the  house  under  a  pro- 
jection of  the  second  story. 

For  two  weeks  or  more  (August  25),  the 

AMERICAN  GOLDFINCHES 

have  been  frequenting  a  young  orchard  nearby 
and  often  fly  over  our  place. 

I  was  surprised  to  hear  them  singing  this  time 
of  year. 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK  525 

The  autumn  song  is  as  quick  and  nervous  almost 
as  that  of  a  red-start  and  does  not,  as  a  rule,  re- 
semble in  the  least  the  canary-like  notes  I  have 
heard  from  the  same  birds  in  the  springtime,  but 
the  other  day,  September  loth,  at  Rowland  Station 
1  heard  one  singing  in  great  form  and  much  better 
than  the  canary. 

Up  to  the  middle  of  August  the  robins, 
catbirds,  and  indigo-finches  have  been  singing, 
and  along  the  lake  edge  in  the  evening  dozens 
of  invisible  birds  sang  an  indescribably  sweet, 
plaintive  melody,  but  I  was  unable  to  see  the  little 
musicians. 

Last  July  Mr.  Elmer  Greger  and  Harold  Wil- 
liams from  Forest  Lake  Club  came  over  and  Mr. 
Fred  Vreeland  went  with  us  in  canoes'  to  the 
outlet  of  Big  Tink.  We  forced  our  way  along  the 
outlet  until  we  became  so  hopelessly  entangled  in 
the  jungle  that  we  left  the  canoes  in  the  top  of  a 
fallen  tree  and  made  our  way  through  the  bog 
among  high  ferns,  tussocks  of  grass,  alders,  yel- 
low birch  trees  and  thickets  of  briars,  until  we 
found  the  trail  to  the  cranberry  "mash,"  where 
the  wild  calla  grow  in  patches  and  in  the  path  on 
the  floating  mass  of  entwined  roots  of  cranberry, 
sphagnum  moss  and  tamarack,  the  tall  green  and 
red  woody  blossom  of  the  pitcher-plants  rear  their 
heads,  while  here  and  there  are  the  beautiful  rare 
orchids,  the  purple-pink  long-leaf,  and  the  more 
delicate  but  scarcely  more  beautiful  salmon  pink- 


526  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

one-leaf  in  middle-of-stem,  nod  their  dainty  heads 
above  the  cranberry's  light  blossom. 

It  is  always  wild  and  always  charming  on  the 
floating  Indian  rubber-like  shores  of  Little  Tink, 
and  although  the  mosquitoes  sing,  the  strange 

FASCINATING  NOTES  OF  THE  VEERY 

drown  the  minor  key  of  the  insect  pest. 

In  July  all  throughout  the  thickets  of  young 
trees,  in  the  paths  of  the  forest  fire,  thrushes 
are  singing;  their  notes  are  not  unlike  those 
of  the  wood-thrush,  but  of  a  more  liquid  and 
even  more  flute-like  tone  than  the  former.  None 
of  the  latter  appear  to  be  near  the  log  house,  al- 
though they  are  common  not  far  away  and  in 
Flushing  their  song  is  almost  as  common  as  that 
of  the  robin. 

About  three  or  four  P.  M.  and  at  intervals, 
until  some  time  after  sunset 

THE  OVEN  BIRD 

mounts  the  air  above  the  tree-tops  and  sings  that 
exultant  rhapsody  which  does  not  resemble  in  either 
quality,  notes  or  tone  its  ordinary  day  song,  of 
"Teacher!  Teacher!"  or  "Preacher!"  or  "Tcher! 
Tcher!"  which  it  repeats  over  and  over  again 
earlier  in  the  day. 

There  must  be  thousands  of  veerys  in  the 
swamps- and  swails  in  the  outlet  of  Big  Tink  and 
bordering  the  marsh  of  Little  Tink. 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK 


PHOTOGRAPH    OF   PIKE    COUNTY    OVEN    BIRD'S    NEST. 

In  Spruce  Swamp  their  song  is  constantly  ring- 
ing, or  rather  going  in  spirals,  on  all  sides  of  the 
daring  explorers  who  brave  the  bog,  fallen  trees 
and  tangled  rhododendron  thickets  which  form  the 
underbrush  in  this  swamp. 

This  spring  while  walking  through  the  woods, 
now  called  Waldheim  by  the  real  estate  men,  but 
what  we  Flushingites  formerly  knew  by  the  name 
of  Macdonald's  Woods,  I  heard  a  voice  crying: 

Quick!    Quick!    Quick! 
Look-a-here ;    Look-a-here ! 

Three;  Three. 
Yellow-link !    Yellow-link ! 

Pretty   Bird,    Pretty   Bird! 
Wheat  Oh!  Wheat  Oh! 


528  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Tweet,  Tweet, 
Tu-r-r-r,    Tur-r-r-r, 
Wee-ah;    Wee-ah! 

and  I  knew  that  our  prince  of  songsters  was  feeling 
good  and  telling  every  other  inhabitant  of  his  joy 
by  his  quaint  song. 

It  took  but  a  few  moments  to  locate  him  on  the 
topmost  branch  of  a  pin  oak  where  his  reddish- 
colored  body,  speckled  breast  and  long  tail  made 
the  brown  thrasher  a  conspicuous  object  against  a 
patch  of  blue  sky.  "Cherer-link,  chere-er  link," 
cried  a  robin  in  response,  while  a  half-dozen  bril- 
liant little  redstarts  flew  nervously  from  tree  to 
tree  inspecting  the  branches,  leaves  and  buds,  keep- 
ing in  constant  motion  and  saying  their  say  as  if 
they  were  in  a  great  hurry  and  feared  interrup- 
tion, 

"T'WEET  WHEE — WHEE — WHEE  WHIS — ETT!" 

Taking  out  my  pencil  and  note  book  I  counted 
the  words  and  syllables  by  making  a  series  of  dots 
and  dashes  as  the  brown  thrasher  birds  sang;  of 
course  the  song  often  varied  in  the  number  of 
words  used,  but  the  normal  number  is  as  here 
recorded. 

In  among  the  small  dogwoods,  briars  and  poison 
ivy,  a  little  yellowbird,  with  a  sort  of  orange- 
colored  dots  on  its  breast,  flew,  peering  under  the 
leaves,  often  even  descending  to  the  ground  and 
turning  over  last  year's  dead  leaves  which  lay  there 
among  the  rank  grasses  and  wild  flowers ;  this  was 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK 


529 


SKETCHES  OF  THE  OVEN  BIRD 

1.  Pose  assumed   by   mother   bird    as    she    creeps    about    in  front  of 
you,   like  a  rat  to   entice  you  away   from   her  nest. 

2.  Oven  bird's  nest,    sketched    from   nature,    Rowland,    Pike    Co.    Pa. 

3.  Young  oven   birds;   five   in   a   nest. 

4.  Cross  section  of  nest  showing  latter  below  level  of  floor  of  oven. 


530  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

the  summer  yellowbird  or  summer  warbler,  which 
builds  its  dainty  little  nest  in  the  fork  of  a  sapling 
and  when  a  vagrant  cow-bird  deposits  its  egg  in 
the  nest  expecting  the  warblers  to  act  as  foster 
parents,  the  egg  of  the  interloper  is  deftly  cov- 
ered up  and  another  nest  built  on  top  of  the  egg 
as  already  described.  The  song  of  this  warbler 
is  very  difficult  for  one  to  distinguish  from  the  red- 
start; but  by  the  same  process  of  counting  and 
experiment  I  found  that  the  yellowbird's  cry  was 
for  wheat,  this  is  what  he  said: 

"WHEAT,  WHEAT,  T'WHEAT,  WHEAT,  WHEAT, 
WHEAT,  WHEAT!" 

A  catbird  in  quaker  guise  listened  with  its  head 
to  one  side  and  remarked :  "Ticka  tea-o,  whay  oh ! 
wheet,"  then  it  imitated  with  wonderful  skill  the 
flute-like  notes  of  the  wood-thrush. 

After  this  exhibition  of  mimicry  it  seemed  to  say, 
"these  songs  are  all  very  well  for  you  poor  birds 
with  a  limited  vocabulary,  but  I'll  show  you  how  to 
sing,"  and  with  that  it  gave  an  exhibition  of  its 
vocal  powers  which  were  second  only  to  those  of 
the  brown  thrasher. 

A  gray  squirrel  scrambled  up  a  chestnut  tree  and 
yellow-hammer  scolded  him  from  the  shattered  end 
of  a  broken  branch,  where  a  neatly  excavated  hole 
was  plainly  discernible  in  the  rotten  wood. 

Reluctantly  forsaking  this  charming  bit  of  wood, 
my  path  led  me  by  some  small  dwellings  packed 
closely  together,  but  even  here  the  catbirds,  robins, 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK  531 

and  wood-thrushes  were  singing,  and  when  I 
reached  the  open  fields  which  the  real  estate  men 
are  still  holding  for  the  unearned  increment  to  pile 
up  upon,  the  meadow  larks  showed  their  white 
feathers  as  they  flew  low  over  the  long  grass  out- 
side of  the  baseball  diamond  and  cried,  "Oh  so 
che-ap!  Here  so-ch-e-a-p"  and  the  little  sparrow 
with  a  smut  mark  on  his  breast  sang  his  little  ditty. 

When  I  reached  the  swamp  woods  and  thickets 
bordering  the  old  railroad  "fill"  the  swamp  black- 
birds were  calling  for  Barbara,  Bar-ba-ree!  Bar- 
ba-ree !  and  their  brilliant  red  epaulets  and 
black  uniforms  were  conspicuous  among  the  wil- 
lows, alders,  and  cat-tails  of  the  swamp-lands. 

Here  I  saw  a  chestnut-sided  warbler  and  heard 
him  making  his  wish  although  he  did  not  state  what 
he  wanted,  but  simply  said:  "Whish,  whisli, 
whish,  wish,  wish,  wish,  wish!" 

A  little  dust-colored  sparrow  answered  with  a 
soft  and  plaintive, 

"Chue,  chue,  chue; 

Teh,  tch,  tch,  tch,  tch,  tch," 

the  last  six  words  spoken  quickly  in  an  ascend 
ing  scale. 

In  the  woods  a  black-and-white  creeper,  running 
up  and  down  the  trunk  of  trees  with  a  celerity 
which  made  the  red-headed  woodpecker  envious, 
paused  for  a  moment  to  greet  me  with,  "Chee  wee, 
eweet,  eweet,  eweet,"  and  I  doffed  my  hat  to  the 
little  acrobat. 

Already  and  dressed  for  the  mask  ball  with  a 


532  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

velvety  black  mask  on  his  face  the  Maryland  yel- 
low-throat sang, 

"Tu  we,  cheete,  we  cheete, 
We  chete,  we  chete, 
We  chete,  we  chete  too !" 

But  bless  his  little  heart  he  cheats  no  one  and 
his  mask  in  place  of  acting  as  a  disguise,  is  the 
principal  mark  by  which  the  bird-looker  identi- 
fies the  little  denizen  of  the  thicket  of  wild  honey- 
suckles, grapevines,  sweet  ferns,  and  elderberry 
bushes. 

"Tut,  whe  oh!  what?  tut! 

Whee  oh,  whee  oh!" 

cried  a  voice  in  loud,  distinct  tones,  and  when  I 
advanced  nearer,  a  small  bird  scolded  me  in  a  gut- 
tural voice  and  I  recognized  the  white-eyed  vireo. 

A  beautiful  indigo  bunting  perched  on  an  old 
fence-post,  but  had  nothing  to  say  for  himself,  and 
I  was  much  disappointed,  for  they  often  sing  for 
me  when  I  have  no  pencil  or  note  book. 

There  was  a  yellow  streak  as  a  small  bird  flew 
by  me  and  the  next  moment  I  heard  him  say, 
"Wizhe-zr-zr-zr-r-r-r,"  but  I  did  not  know  the 
note  and  failed  to  see  the  bird,  again ;  however,  it 
was  no  doubt  a  blue-winged  warbler.  Such  experi- 
ences as  the  last  do  not  discourage  the  lover  of 
birds.  He  knows  that  there  are  still  new  ac- 
quaintances to  make  and  abides  his  time.  From  a 
brush  heap  a  brown  and  black  bird  informed  me 
that  his  name  was  Cheewink,  and  for  fear  that  I 
would  forget  it  he  repeated  the  name  several  times, 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK  533 

but  as  he  made  but  one  attempt  at  a  song,  I  did  not 
have  an  opportunity  to  make  any  short-hand  notes 
of  his  ballad,  although  I  have  some  made  since  this 
was  written. 

But  what  pleased  me  most  of  all  was  to  hear  a 
clear  voice  in  a  truck  garden  crying  : 

"BOB  WHITE,  BOB  WHITE!" 

Poor  little  bob-white !  He  lives  in  a  city  popu- 
lated with  two-legged,  blood-thirsty  animals  as 
numerous  as  grasshoppers  in  Kansas,  and  there  is 
scarcely  one  of  these  fierce  creatures  called  men 
who  would  not  rejoice  over  an  opportunity,  and 
call  it  sport,  to  kill  this  persecuted  little  bird  who 
with  his  modest  mate  has  dared  to  set  up  house- 
keeping within  the  corporate  limits  of  New  York 
City. 

We  once  called  it  sport  to  set  wild  beasts  upon 
defenseless  people  in  the  arena,  later  we  called  it 
sport  to  set  vicious  dogs  at  bulls,  horses,  bears,  and 
badgers. 

Man  is  slowly  evolving  from  the  brute,  but  he 
has  a  long  road  to  travel  yet  before  he  becomes  a 
real  man ! 

While  I  am  a  nature  lover  and  have  a  real  af- 
fection for  every  live  thing  on  earth,  be  it  a  blade 
of  grass  or  a  highly  developed  animal,  I  do  not 
wish  my  boy  readers  to  understand  by  this  that  I 
approve  of  the  degenerate  sentimentality  which, 
according  to  a  current  paper,  was  exhibited  by  a 
wealthy  widow  of  Chicago.  The  news  item  in  my 


534  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

hand  says  that  she  chartered  a  special  train,  hired 
two  maids  and  a  surgeon  to  take  a  pet  dog  across 
the  continent,  and  when  the  dog  died,  placed  it  in 
a  white  velvet-covered  coffin,  lined  with  white  satin 
and  decorated  with  solid  gold  handles.  Such  ex- 
hibitions of  extreme  affection  are  nothing  but  a 
form  of  hysteria,  and  do  a  great  deal  of  harm  by 
disgusting  many  people  with  the  whole  band  of 
nature  lovers.  What  I  want  to  encourage  in  the 
young  reader  is  a  sane,  comprehensive  love  for  the 
world  he  lives  in.  Some  of  my  friends  have  jok- 
ingly suggested  that  in  my  enthusiasm  for  Nature 
I  am  becoming  a  worshipper  of  Pan.  While  this 
was  not  said  seriously,  I  choose  to  take  it  so.  You 
know,  boys,  that  Pan  is  the  ancient  god  which 
artists  paint  and  draw  when  they  wish  to  personify 
Nature,  but  whose  grotesque  form  indicates  that 
he  was  not  originally  intended  for  that  purpose, 
but  really  to  represent  what  we  know  as  "of  the 
earth,  earthy."  The  great  army  of  outdoor  people 
do  not  claim  any  divinity  for  Nature  itself,  but 
we  do  claim  that  Nature  is  the  handiwork  of  God. 
Now,  even  if  we  were  worshipers  of  Nature,  we 
would  still  hold  a  higher  position  than  do  those 
people  who  pretend  to  worship  a  deity,  whose 
handiwork  they  spend  their  lives  in  mutilating  and 
destroying. 

NO  MAN  RESPECTS  AN  ARTIST 

and  destroys  his  handiwork.     Now,  boys,  let  us 
start  a  camp  fire  of  nature  lovers.     Each  of  you 


SMALL  BIRD  TALK  535 

bring  a  log  and  put  it  on  the  fire  till  the  blaze 
reaches  so  high  that  it  will  illuminate  the  whole 
country  around,  so  that  people  will  stop  and  ask 
what  that  light  means  reflected  in  the  sky ;  and  you 
can  honestly  reply,  "That  means  a  REVOLUTION— 
a  revolution  from  the  hard,  suicidal,  unsentimental, 
dollar-and-cent  way  of  viewing  life,  to  one  in  which 
each  of  us  is  doing  our  little  part  to  restore  this 
world,  as  near  as  may  be,  to  its  original  plan  of  a 
pleasure-ground  and  garden  for  those  who  are  so- 
journing here." 

Vacation  is  almost  over.  The  author  has  been 
working  in  his  log  house  on  the  banks  of  Big  Tink 
Pond.  Outside  the  chipmunks  are  scolding,  in  the 
swail  the  oven-bird  is  calling,  and  at  night  the 
whip-poor-will  across  the  lake  repeats  its  own  name 
as  fast  as  it  can  for  over  a  hundred  times  in  suc- 
cession without  taking  breath.  The  other  night  we 
counted  one  hundred  and  eighty  times  that  this 
energetic,  long-winded  bird  repeated  whip-poor- 
will,  although  often  it  sounds  as  if  the  bird  was 
saying,  "Whip  her  well."  One  evening  two  of 
these  birds  flew  down  where  the  writer  was  sitting, 
and  took  a  position  within  reach  of  his  hand.  Both 
birds  then  made  a  low,  clucking  noise  which  was 
accepted  as  a  friendly  greeting. 

The  blue  lupin  has  gone  to  seed,  the  golden- 
rod  is  turning  yellow,  the  fringed  gentian  has 
swelling  buds  and  the  mushrooms  and  toadstools 
make  spots  of  color  in  the  pathway  and  mingle 


536  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

with    the    puff-balls    which    push    their    balloons 
through  the  dry  leaves. 

This  is  the  time  of  the  year  for  us  to  build  our 
campfires  and  gather  around  them  to  tell  camp- 
fire  stories  and  discuss  the  campaign  of  real  nature 
lovers  for  next  season.  While  we  ourselves  may 
not  take  our  guns  and  go  to  the  woods  and  fields 
to  wreak  havoc  among  the  few  remaining  wood- 
cock, wood  ducks,  and  ruffed  grouse,  we  must  not 
look  with  displeasure  on  the  real  sportsmen  who  do 
go  abroad  with  their  guns,  for  after  all  it  is  upon 
these  men  that  we  must  depend  to  enforce  and 
uphold  the  game  laws  which  are  now  the  only 
barrier  against  the  utter  extermination  of  our  little 
brothers  in  fur,  fin,  and  feathers. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

HOW  TO  GET  ACQUAINTED  WITH  THE  BIRDS — HOW  TO 
LEARN  SHORTHAND  FOR  BIRD  TALK  AND  HOW  TO 
DRAW  A  BIRD SOME  NEW  BIRD  NOTES 

NO  boy  or  man  can  really  enjoy  himself  in  the  coun- 
try unless  he  has  a  speaking  acquaintance  with 
the  wild  inhabitants  of  the  copse  and  woods.    He 
should  be  able  to  tell  the  name  of  any  one  of  the  com- 
mon frogs,  turtles,  snakes,  salamanders,  mammals,  and 
birds,  and  there  is  but  one  way  to  learn  these,  and  that 
is  by  observation  and  notes. 

The  most  popular  wild  inhabitants  of  the  country  are 
the  birds,  and  consequently  there  are  more  bird  books 
written  than  any  other  kind  of  Nature  books.  This 
makes  it  an  easy  task  to  identify  most  of  the  little 
songsters  if  you  have  properly  taken  notes. 

HOW  TO  KEEP  A   BIRD  FIELD-BOOK 

Secure  a  cheap  blank  book  with  a  stout  cover  and  of  a 
size  to  fit  your  pocket.  It  should  also  have  straps  or 
loops  for  holding  a  pencil.  On  the  first  leaf  of  the  book 
paste  a  tracing  of  Fig.  i,  with  the  explanation  distinctly 
written  below  the  diagram. 

With  this  in  the  front  of  your  field-book,  you  need 
not  write  the  names  of  the  parts  in  your  notes,  but  sim- 

537 


538  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

ply  write,  for  instance,  A, black;  B,  red;  C,  yellow,  which 
would  be  translated  black  bill,  red  forehead,  and  yellow 
crown. 


F.Grl 


Map  Showing  Divisions  on  a  Bird  Used  in  Description 

A,  the  bill;  B,  the  forehead;  C,  the  crown;  D,  the  cheek;  E,  the 
nape;  F,  the  back;  G,  the  rump,  the  lower  part  of  the  back  just 
above  the  upper  tail-covert,  both  concealed  in  the  diagram  by  the 
wing ;  H,  the  lower  tail-covert ;  J,  the  tail ;  P,  Q,  R,  S,  T,  U,  V,  the 
wing ;  P,  the  lesser  wing-covert ;  Q,  the  middle  wing-covert ;  R,  the 
greater  wing-covert ;  S,  the  secondary  wing-feathers ;  T,  the  pri- 
mary wing-feathers ;  U,  the  shoulder ;  V,  the  third  wing-feathers ; 
M,  the  belly;  N,  the  breast;  X,  the  throat;  W,  the  lores;  O,  the 
chin. 

While  it  is  well  to  have  a  diagram  of  the  wing  di- 
vided up  into  all  the  natural  divisions  so  that  they  will 


HOW  TO  GET  ACQUAINTED  WITH  BIRDS  539 


be  familiar  to  you,  it  is  not  possible  in  making  notes 
from  live  birds  by  the  aid  of  your  field-glasses  to  see  and 
put  down  all  these  divisions,  because  the  bird  does  not 
pose  for  inspection,  but  flutters  and  hops  about  in  a  most 
bewildering  manner.  Hence  I  have  adopted  the  plan 
of  making  a  rough  diagram  of  a  bird  on  each  page  of 
my  note-book,  as  may  be  seen  by  Figs.  6  and  7.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  be  an  artist  to  make  these  diagrams;  anyone 
who  can  write  well  can  make  a  rough  sketch  of  a  bird 
which  will  serve  the  purpose. 

HOW  TO  SKETCH  A  BIRD 

Make  a  round  figure  like  A,  Fig.  2 ;  then  add  a  larger 
oblong  body  of  a  rude  egg-shape  as  B,  Fig.  2. 
Now  add  the  tail  F, 
G  (Fig.  3),  and  draw 
the  lines  C,  D,  and  J, 
I,  joining  the  head  to  £f 
the  body;  next  the 
lines  E,  F  and  H,  G 
for  the  upper  and 
lower  tail-coverts,  Fig. 
3.  You  may  now  rub 
out  the  lines  where 
they  are  dotted  in 
Fig.  4,  and  add  a  beak 
and  legs,  as  in  the  diagram;  then  draw  the  wing  L,  M, 
N  (Fig.  5),  and  you  will  have  a  bird,  and  a  good 
enough  one  on  which  to  make  your  notes. 

Ornithologists  have  a  certain  list  of  colors  which  they 
have  adopted  as  a  standard,  and  of  which  Frank  Chap- 


Field  Notes  of  a  Bird 


540 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


man  has  a  color-chart,  introduced  in  his  most  practical 
"  Book  of  the  Birds  of  Eastern  North  America,"  but  it 
is  not  necessary  for  you  to  use  this  system  in  your  notes. 
If,  for  instance,  a  wing  is  yellow  with  a  tinge  of  red, 
call  it  reddish  yellow.  But  if  it  is  more  red  than  yellow, 
that  is,  red  with  a  yellow  tinge,  call  it  yellowish  red. 

If  you  are  unable  to  decide  which  color  is  dominant 
or  strongest,  call  it  orange,  and  you  will  not  be  far  from 

the  truth.  Field-notes  are 
necessarily  made  hurriedly, 
and  the  bird  may  fly  away 
while  you  are  trying  to 
decide  whether  the  back  is 
"  olive,"  "  olive-brown,"  "  ru- 
fous-brown," "  rufous,"  or 
"  chestnut,"  so  mark  it  brown, 
reddish  brown,  or  grayish 
brown,  brown  or  brownish,  as 
it  may  appear  to  you,  but  mark 
it  quick,  and  then  go  on  to  the 
next  item,  look  for  wing-bars, 
and  note  them  as  in  Fig.  6. 
See  if  the  bill  is  thick  like  a 
sparrow's  or  thin  like  an  insect- 
feeder,  and  note  it;  don't  stop 
to  draw  it  properly,  just  write  sparrow  bill,  short  bill, 
long  bill,  thin  bill,  etc.  After  you  have  noted  all  the 
details  possible  with  the  aid  of  your  field-glasses,  note 
what  the  bird  was  doing,  how  it  acted,  and  this  in  your 
own  language.  Don't  try  to  write  as  it  is  in  books.  The 
value  of  your  personal  notes  is  the  originality  of  your  ob- 


How  to  Sketch  a  Bird 


HOW  TO  GET  ACQUAINTED  WITH  BIRDS  541 

servations.  Put  down  date  and  location,  the  sort  of 
woods,  brush,  or  field,  in  which  the  bird  was  seen; 
whether  the  land  was  swampy,  hilly,  or  dry  pasture, 
etc.,  and  then  get  the  song  if  you  can.  I  have  tried 
all  sorts  of  experiments  in  recording  bird  song,  and  the 
most  practical  way  for  me  is  to  use  a  series  of  dashes 
like  these  -  — ,  for  long  and  short  notes, 

or  dots  for  quick  trills  or  chatterings.  With  this  method 
it  is  possible  to  get  the  number  of  words,  syllables,  or 
exclamations  in  each  bird  song.  I  spent  three  after- 
noons recording  the  brown  thrasher's  song  given  on 
page  527,  and  comparing  the  results  until  I  secured  his 
average  or  normal  song,  and  this  is  the  way  the  notes 
appeared: 

Quick  !  Quick  !  Quick  ! 

Look-a-here,  Look-a-here  ! 

Three,  Three. 

Yel-low  link,  yel-low-link. 

Pret-ty  bird,  pret-ty  bird. 

Wheat  oh,  wheat  oh. 
Twert,  twert. 
Tw-r-r-r,  Tu-r-r-r. 
Wee-ah-wee-ah  ! 

Of  course,  the  brown  thrasher  does  not  speak  Eng- 
lish, but  one  must  fit  words  to  the  sounds  the  bird  makes, 
and  fit  the  words  which  come  nearest  to  the  bird  notes. 

The  scarlet  tanager  near  my  home  every  summer  is 
singing  all  during  the  hot  days,  as  if  he  enjoyed  warm 
weather,  but  his  song  must  refer  to  his  little  greenish- 
colored  wife,  or  maybe  the  publishers,  for  it  certainly 
does  not  refer  to  the  author  when  it  says.  "  Oh  gee! 
too  rich,  too  rich,  too  rich  for  me !  " 

A  very  pert  oriole  at  my  farm  boastingly  announces 


542 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


that  he  is  the  offspring  of  the  gentleman  in  charge  of 
the  culinary  department  of  a  ship;  his  words  are  u  I  am 
the  son  of  a  sea-cook,  I  am !  So  there  !  So  there !  " 

It  is  great  fun  working  out  these  bird  songs  and  then 
comparing  one's  notes  with  those  of  some  enthusiastic 
fellow  like  Chapman  or  Burroughs,  and  noticing  how 


A  Page  from  the  Author's  Notebook 

and  where  you  differ  from  them.  Do  not  think  that  you 
are  wrong  because  your  notes  do  not  agree  with  others. 
Birds  themselves  differ  in  their  songs. 

There  was  an  oriole  which  for  five  summers  lived  on 
the  same,  street  with  me,  and  its  song  differed  more  from 
the  ordinary  oriole  than  does  the  scarlet  tanager  from 
the  robin. 


HOW  TO  GET  ACQUAINTED  WITH  BIRDS  543 

Figs.  8  to  13  show  how  to  make  notes  of  ducks.  Fig. 
12  is  simply  a  duck  of  no  particular  breed.  If  it  has 
a  red  head  shaped  like  Fig.  8,  it  is  a  canvasback;  if  it 
has  a  red  head  shaped  like  Fig.  9,  it  is  a  redhead.  If  it 
is  a  golden  eye,  bufflehead,  or  old  squaw,  its  head  will 
look  something  like  Fig.  10,  but  if  it  has  a  bill  like  Fig. 
11,  it  is  a  merganser.  Describe  the  duck  as  in  Figs.  6 
and  7,  and  then  mark  the  head  which  corresponds  with 
the  one  observed  with  an  X,  as  in  Fig.  1 1. 

Fig.  13  is  a  wader,  and  the  notes  for  it  may  be  made 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  other  birds  described. 

In  the  spring  watch  for  the  arrival  of  birds  from  the 
South,  and  in  the  late  autumn  note  the  arrival  of  the 
Northern  birds  taking  their  annual  trip  South,  and  also 
note  the  time  of  departure  of  our  own  birds. 

At  my  farm  at  Redding,  Conn.,  the  same  birds  that 
were  here  last  year  have  returned:  the  pair  of  blue  birds 
that  built  in  a  hole  in  the  tree  next  door  are  inspecting 
their  old  nesting-place;  the  brown  thrasher  is  singing 
now  in  the  same  tree  he  occupied  for  the  same  purpose 
last  year;  the  chimney  swifts  are  booming  up  and  down 
my  big  chimney  and  occasionlly  coming  out  through  the 
smoke  of  the  open  fire  to  bang  their  silly  heads  against 
the  window-glass,  until  I  catch  them  and  toss  them  out 
of  the  door;  the  barn  swallows  that  built  on  a  board  in 
the  wagon  shed  are  busy  talking  over  proposed  im- 
provements to  their  old  home ;  the  same  little  humming 
bird  occupies  the  same  perch  on  the  telephone  wire 
that  it  did  last  year.  As  if  purposely  to  furnish 
me  with  another  illustration  of  shorthand  notes  of 
bird  songs,  my  friend  the  purple  finch  has  returned 


544  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

and  has  this  moment  interrupted  my  work  with  his  in- 
sistent and  oft-repeated  roundelay.  We  have  had  a 
cold  rain  and  his  feathers  are  all  wet,  but  he  sings  as 
if  he  was  wound  up  with  an  eight  day  clockwork  attach- 
ment; he  is  sitting  on  the  bare  branches  of  an  old  apple 
tree,  but  to  catch  his  message  I  must  work  my  pencil 
with  great  rapidity,  often  losing  time  and  place  and 
again  making  more  marks  than  there  are  notes  in  his 
song.  But  by  the  exercise  of  patience,  and  testing,  and 
retesting  my  notation,  I  find  the  result  to  be  as  follows : 

quick  time  slower 

Whoo  Whew,  Whew,  Chu,  Chu,  Chu,  Weak-ah  Wee-oh  ! 

or, 
quick  time  slower 


Weeo,  Wheoo,  Wheoo,  Wheoo,  Chi,  Chu,  Chee  Chu  Week  ! 

Once  or  twice  the  rose-tinted  bard  added  a  little  flour- 
ish at  the  end  of  the  song,  but  he  failed  to  repeat  it 
often  enough  for  me  to  catch,  and  translate  it  into  Eng- 
lish. That  the  flourish  belongs  to  the  regular  song  is 
very  doubtful.  I  have  known  other  birds,  when  they 
felt  in  the  humor,  io  add  unexpected  variations  to  their 
regular  song.  One  white-throated  sparrow,  that  spent 
many  winters  in  my  back-yard  in  Flushing,  when  he  felt 
particularly  happy  would  end  his  plaintive  whistle  with 
an  unmistakable  trill,  but  I  never  knew  any  other  white 
throat  to  a-ttempt  anything  in  that  line. 

Since  writing  the  above  notes  the  temperature  has 
grown  balmy  and  the  change  in  the  weather  has  pro- 


HOW  TO  GET  ACQUAINTED  WITH  BIRDS  545 

duced  a  change  in  the  purple  finch's  song,  in  fact,  it  is 
a  brand  new  song  and  is  accompanied  by  some  clever 
acting.  The  little  bird  spreads  his  wings,  erects  a  crest 
on  his  head,  dances  along  the  apple  tree  limb  and  sings 

Chee  Chee  Chee  Cheer,  My  Dear  Sweet 
or  reversing   it,   sings 

My  Dear  Sweet,  Chee  Chee  Chee  Cheer 

It  is  great !  He  acts  as  if  he  knew  I  fully  appreciated 
his  efforts,  but  this  is  probably  only  appearance,  for  just 
now  I  caught  him  going  through  his  little  song  and 
dance  before  a  sparrow-like  bird,  which  is  probably 
his  sweetheart,  the  female  purple  finch.  Before  I  saw 
his  lady  love  I  thought  he  said  "  Hi  there,  Wheat," 
but  now  I  know  it  was,  "  My  Dear  Sweet." 


CHAPTER  XXXII 


ORIGIN  OF  OUR  HANDS  AND  BACKBONE — DAME  NA- 
TURE'S EXPERIMENT  WITH  AEROPLANES HER  FAIL- 
URES AND  SUCCESSES ARMS  AND  LEGS  OF  FISHES — 

ALL  MEMBERS  OF  THE  SONS  OF  EVOLUTION 

YOU   often    hear   the    contemptuous    expression, 
"  That  man  has  no  backbone,"  and  in  speaking 
in  commendation  of  a  man,  you  will  hear  them 
say,   "  He's  all  right,   he's  a  man  with  a  backbone." 


Sketches  from  the  Author's  Notebook.     Originals  made  from  Life 
and  Photographs 

There  is  a  deep  and  grand  meaning  to  this  expression, 
for  it  is  the  back-boned  animals  that  are  the  winners  in 
life's  race,  and  it  is  only  the  back-boned  animals  that 
possess  hands.  If  you  wish,  you  can  see  how  the  back- 
bone was  probably  first  developed,  by  examining  the 
eggs  of  fishes.  At  a  certain  stage  of  development  of  the 

546 


ORIGIN  OF  OUR  HANDS  AND  BACKBONE    547 


fishes'  eggs,  there  may  be  seen  in  them  series  of  bead-like 
objects  between  which  is  a  string;  this  string  is  called  the 
dorsal  cord.  It  is  the  rudimentary,  the  baby  backbone. 
In  the  fish's  egg  this  is  cartilaginous  (what  the  boys  call 


MAN  WITtlfE-AThER 
OM  MAMD5  AND  ARMS 
ALSO  AIDIRD'5 
HAH  ism  P05EOJ> 


Sketch  of  Man  in   Pose  of  a  Bird 

gristle),  and  it  is  still  only  gristle  in  those  holdovers 
from  a  past  age — the  sturgeon  and -its  relatives. 

The  petrified  fishes,  the  ancestors  of  the  modern  fish, 
in  the  stone  strata  below  the  coal  formation,  when  they 
lived,  all  had  gristle  in  place  of  a  backbone.  But  all 
the  back-boned  animals  are  linked  together  by  the  fact 
that  they  have  either  a  soft  or  hard  backbone  of  some 


548 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


sort,  insulating  and  protecting  the  telegraph  wire  we 
call  the  spinal  cord,  which  terminates  in  a  strong  box 
called  the  skull,  protecting  the  battery  called  the  brain. 
The  back-boned  animals  never  have  more  than  two  pair 


Fowl,  Shewing  Parts   Corresponding  to  Man 

of  limbs,  and  they  are  all  built  upon  the  same  general 
plan,  but  unless  we  study  the  plan  we  will  never  suspect 
the  relationship  of  a  giraffe  to  a  humming-bird. 

The  backbone  originated  in  the  water  and  if  we  go  to 
the  water  we  may  even  find  the  origin  of  our  hands. 

There  is  in  South  America  a  queer  creature  called  the 


ORIGIN  OF  OUR  HANDS  AND  BACKBONE    549 

lung  fish,  which  is  a  living  example  of  an  ancient  family, 
a  blue-blooded  aristocrat ! 

If  you  will  examine  one  of  these  strange  creatures, 
you  will  find  that  it  has  four  fins,  corresponding  to  the 
four  limbs  of  a  man  and  beast. 

The  front  fins  of  any  ordinary  fish  correspond,  bone 
for  bone,  with  those  of  your  own  arm;  but  the  bones 
are  shortened  and  broadened,  and  the  hand  is  composed 
of  many  fingers  called  rays. 

Study  this  out  for  yourselves,  at  the  museums  or  in 


Comparative  Diagram  of  Horse  and  Bird 

your  illustrated  natural  history  books,  for  we  must 
hurry  along  in  this  chapter  to  the  less  complicated  and 
more  simple  anatomy  of  land  animals. 

The  fish  is  not  remarkable  for  its  brains,  and  its 
hands  are  very  crude  affairs,  only  suitable  for  paddles, 
for  balancing  paddles;  the  real  propelling  power  of  the 
fish  is  its  tail.  But  a  little  further  in  the  line  of  evolu- 
tion we  will  find  that  the  alligator's  fins  or  hands  are  very 
much  like  our  own.  It  is  the  same  with  the  frog,  the 
newts,  and  salamanders,  shown  in  the  previous  chapters, 
and  also  with  those  extinct  monsters  of  gigantic  propor- 
tions whose  bones  you  will  find  exhibited  at  the  Museum 
of  Natural  History  in  Central  Park.  In  the  chapter  on 


550 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


Original  Notes  on  Hands  and  Wings 
From  the  Author's  Sketchbook 

whales  I  have  told  you  about  the  whale's  flipper  and 
its  five  big  fingers.    All  of  these  back-boned  folks  have 


ORIGIN  OF  OUR  HANDS  AND  BACKBONE    551 

hands,  so  also  had  the  pterodactyl,  and  the  other  huge 
bird-like  reptiles  and  dragons,  which  inhabited  the 
earth  in  ancient  times,  and  were  the  forefathers  of  our 
modern  beasts  of  the  field  and  birds  of  the  air,  rough 
memorandum  sketches  of  which  are  shown  in  the  repro- 
duction of  a  leaf  from  the  author's  note-book.  It  is 
evident  that  they  were  the  first  experimental  machines 
from  which  the  modern  ones  were  gradually  developed. 
The  pterodactyl  was  experimenting  in  the  use  of 
hands  as  wings;  it  had  a  good  idea,  like  our  men  with 
the  flying  machine  to-day,  but  like  some  of  them,  it  got 
on  the  wrong  track.  To  make  its  wing  it  enlarged  and 
lengthened  its  little  finger  like  the  bow  on  an  English 
kite,  and  stretched  a  skin  or  membrane  from  that  to  its 
body.  By  referring  to  the  illustration  on  page  93  you 
will  see  that  our  modern  bat  has  very  much  improved 
upon  the  crude  attempts  of  the  pterodactyl.  The  bat 
has  a  hand  of  four  fingers  and  a  thumb,  bone  for  bone, 
like  your  own  hand.  Its  thumb  is  small  and  free,  its 
forefingers  are  elongated  like  the  ribs  of  an  umbrella, 
and,  like  the  ribs  of  an  umbrella,  connected  by  a  mem- 
brane. The  bat  carries  its  elbow  bent,  and  the  skin  runs 
from  its  thumb  to  its  shoulders,  while  the  skin  covering 
the  fingers  runs  from  the  ends  of  the  fingers  to  the  end 
of  the  tail,  the  latter  forming  another  umbrella  rib  or 
kite  stick.  This  is  a  vast  improvement  upon  the  awk- 
ward attempt  to  make  a  wing  out  of  a  little  finger.  The 
bat's  flight,  as  you  all  know  is  easy,  well  sustained,  and 
skillful,  but  I  doubt  if  the  old  animated  aeroplane 
of  a  pterodactyl  could  do  any  more  than  skim  or  sail 
like  a  flying  squirrel.  It  was  probably  what  our  modern 


552  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

aviators  would  call  a  glider,  a  machine  with  no  power 
of  continued  flight. 

Away  back  somewhere  in  the  past,  when  the  litho- 
graphic stone  was  soft  mud,  there  was  a  bunch  of  other 
experimenters.  They  started  out  in  a  different  line. 
They  had  the  membrane  running  from  the  root  of  the 
thumb  to  the  shoulder  like  the  modern  bat,  and  modern 
birds,  but  the  fingers  of  the  hand  were  free,  and  from 
their  forearm  they  developed  feathers.  They  had  a  tail 
like  a  rat  with  feathers  growing  on  each  side  cf  it.  It 


Sketch  of  Foot  of  Man  and  Horse 

would  be  flattery  to  call  these  things  birds,  and  it  may 
be   stretching   a   point   to   call   them   reptiles. 

They  bear  the  same  relation  to  our  modern  birds  as 
do  the  first  experiments  of  steam  to  a  modern  locomo- 
tive; or  as  Franklin's  electrical  kite  to  a  modern  electric 
motor  car.  But  let  us  inspect  some  modern  birds 
that  we  may  see  without  visiting  a  museum.  If 
you  will  take  a  Thanksgiving  turkey,  for  instance, 
before  it  is  carved,  or  a  common  barnyard  chicken,  and 
examine  it  carefully,  you  will  find  that  the  wing  corre- 
sponds, bone  for  bone,  and  muscle  for  muscle,  with  your 
own  arm  and  hand.  The  hand  of  a  bird  is  welded  to- 
gether or  enclosed  in  a  sort  of  fleshy  mitten,  but  the 
thumb  is  distinct,  as  it  is  in  your  own  mitten  that  you 


ORIGIN  OF  OUR  HANDS  AND  BACKBONE    553 

wear  on  a  cold  day.  Further  examination  of  the  fowl 
will  also  show  you  that  the  succulent  second  joint  cor- 
responds with  your  own  thigh  and  hip,  that  the  drum- 
stick is  the  calf  and  shin,  and  that  the  scaly  part,  which 
you  call  the  leg  of  a  chicken  or  bird,  corresponds  with 
the  foot  of  a  human  being.  Birds  walk  on  their  toes 
with  their  heels  in  the  air,  as  do  horses,  cows,  dogs,  and 


Man  and  Ape  with  Wings.     Man  and  Bird's  Legs  Compared 

other  beasts,  with  the  exception  of  coons  and  bears; 
the  latter  walk  on  the  palms  of  their  hands  and  soles  of 
their  feet,  and  are  called  plantigrade  animals.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  know  that  the  naked  babies  of  some  savage 
tribes  walk  in  the  same  manner,  and  do  not  creep  on 
their  hands  and  knees  like  children  of  civilized  parents. 
We  have  seen  that  a  bird's  wings  are  its  arms,  cor- 
responding in  every  essential  particular  with  the  arms  of 


554  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

a  man.  To  illustrate  this  I  have  made  a  drawing,  show- 
ing a  man  in  the  pose  of  a  bird  with  the  wing  feathers 
growing  from  his  forearm  and  hand  as  they  do  on  a  bird. 
The  small  feathers  have  been  removed  so  as  to  better 
show  the  arrangement  of  the  larger  or  quill  feathers. 

Had  this  man's  body  been  covered  with  feathers,  like 
a  bird,  only  his  toes  would  be  visible  as  he  stands  bird- 
fashion. 

In  these  sketches  may  be  seen  the  bat-like  mem- 
brane connecting  the  shoulder  with  the  thumb  of  the 


Sketch  of  Man  with  Bat's  Wings 

chicken,  and  in  the  sketch  of  a  man  with  a  robin's  wing 
is  another  similar  membrane  under  the  arm.  The  wing 
proper  is  composed  of  the  hand  and  forearm,  as  is 
shown  by  this  illustration  of  a  man  with  the  wing- 
feathers  of  a  bird  growing  on  his  hand  and  fore- 
arm. Had  the  artists,  who  first  invented  the  church- 
window  form  of  angels  been  better  acquainted  with  an- 
atomy, they  would  never  have  made  creatures  with  two 
pairs  of  arms,  one  pair  growing  from  the  back  where 
there  is  no  -place  for  a  shoulder  joint  and  no  muscles  to 
move  the  arms.  Wheels  on  the  smoke-stack  of  a  locomo- 
tive would  be  just  as  useful  to  the  engine  as  wings  stuck 


ORIGIN  OF  OUR  HANDS  AND  BACKBONE    555 


on  a  man's  shoulder  blades.  The  wings  of  the  typical 
church-window  angel,  being  devoid  of  supporting  mus- 
cles, would  trail  behind 
like  a  woman's  skirts 
in  the  mud.  They 
would  not  only  be  of 
no  use,  but  a  great 
encumbrance.  They 
would  hang  limply 
down  the  angel's  back, 
bumping  against  its 
heels  and  dragging  on 
the  ground  as  it 
walked,  but  angels' 
wings  as  a  symbol  of 
a  being's  power  to  tra- 
verse space  are,  like 
those  little  ones  at- 
tached to  the  hat  and 
heels  of  Mercury,  per- 
fectly proper.  The 
old  masters  may  not 
themselves  have  been 
ignorant  of  the  ele- 
mentary principles  of  anatomy  when  they  painted  angels' 
wings  on  the  shoulder  blades,  and  they  were  probably 
doing  the  same  as  modern  artists  are  doing  to-day,  ac- 
cepting the  ancient  idea  of  an  angel,  and  reproducing 
it  as  we  do  that  absurd  monster,  the  centaur. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

STRANGE  CREATURES  MET  WITH  IN  THE  WATER — THE 

WOODS  FULL  OF  TRAGEDIES EVEN  FOXES  NOT  SURE 

OF  THEIR  GAME — BEASTS  NEVER  TROUBLE  TROUBLE 
TILL   TROUBLE   ITSELF   TROUBLES   THEM 

IT  is  a  common  belief  that  all  wild  animals  can 
swim,  but  authorities  deny  that  llamas  or  giraffes 
ever  swim  and  claim  that  camels,  like  men,  must 
learn  to  swim,  and  that  monkeys  and  apes  drown  if 
thrown  into  deep  water.  Personally,  however,  I  have 
never  seen  any  of  these  particular  animals  attempt  to 
bathe.  It  was  a  common  belief  among  the  boys  that 
when  pigs  attempted  to  swim  they  cut  their  own  throats 
with  their  rapidly  moving  front  feet;  but  I  have  seen 
pigs  swim  long  distances  in  swiftly  flowing  rivers  and 
emerge  upon  the  banks  of  the  stream  with  no  blood 
upon  their  throats.  I  once  knew  an  old  pig  which  fre- 
quented the  levee  where  the  then  unfinished  abutment  of 
the  Cincinnati  and  Covington  bridge  stood,  and  I  have 
seen  this  pig,  time  and  again,  jump  into  the  water  of  the 
Ohio  River,  swim  fifty  or  a  hundred  yards  out  in  the 
stream  and  come  back  again,  apparently  for  no  other 
purpose  than  the  pleasure  it  derived  from  the  bath. 

Upon  several  occasions  I  have  seen  both  horses  and 
cattle  escape  from  steamers  upon  which  they  had  been 

556 


STRANGE  CREATURES  MET  IN  THE  WATER    557 

loaded,  swim  long  distances  in  the  Western  rivers  and 
also  in  the  East  River  here  in  New  York.  Once  when 
I  was  a  small  boy  I  was  watching  the  soldiers  loading 
a  steamboat  with  Texas  steers.  It  was  during  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion  and  the  town  was  in  a  state  of  siege  and 
filled  with  blue  uniformed  soldiers.  Along  the  levee, 
in  three  thin  blue  lines,  were  stretched  six  or  eight  regi- 
ments ;  the  men  were  sitting  or  lying  on  the  dusty  ground 
with  their  arms  stacked  in  front  of  them;  the  soldiers 
were  all  laughing  at  the  efforts  of  their  comrades  to 
drive  the  cattle  aboard  the  steamer.  There  was  a  gang- 
plank from  the  levee  up  to  the  steamer  deck  and  a  fence 
lashed  upon  each  side  of  the  gang-plank,  but  the  cattle 
did  not  relish  the  idea  of  traveling  across  this  bridge, 
nor  did  they  like  the  looks  of  the  boilers  and  furnaces 
on  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  so,  to  persuade  the  cat- 
tle to  move  ahead  it  was  frequently  necessary  for  the 
soldiers  to  grasp  their  tails  and  wind  them  around,  as 
one  would  turn  a  key  in  a  clock.  The  men  were  busily 
engaged  in  this  operation  on  the  caudal  appendage  of  an 
immense  longhorn  Texan  ox,  when  the  enraged  ani- 
mal broke  down  the  railing,  threw  his  two  tormentors 
into  the  water  on  one  side  and  plunged  into  the  stream 
himself  on  the  other  side  of  the  plank.  The  men  swam 
and  scrambled  ashore,  but  the  ox  got  there  first,  and, 
lowering  his  head  and  breathing  defiance  to  the  whole 
United  States  army,  he  charged  the  regiments  biv- 
ouacked upon  the  levee. 

The  boys  in  blue  were  brave  men  and  seasoned  vet- 
erans; they  all  knew  the  hot  breath  of  the  cannon  and 
the  song  that  the  Minie  rifle  balls  sang,  but  when  the 


558 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


steer  from  Texas  came  after  them  and  plowed  right 
through  the  ranks  there  was  -not  a  show  of  resistance. 
When  I  saw  him  last  he  was  pursuing  his  triumphant 
way,  with  his  proud  tail  erect,  as  he  disappeared  up 
the  street  in  a  cloud  of  dust. 

But  it  was  not  of  domestic  beasts  that  I  intended  to 
speak;  it  was  of  the  wild  forest  folk  in  which  we  are  all 
so  interested. 


Killing  a  Rattlesnake  in  the  Middle  of  a  Lake 

A  little  while  ago  I  spoke  of  the  things  I  had  seen 
in  the  East  River,  which  recalls  the  fact  that  once  while 
crossing  on  the  Thirty-fourth  street  ferry  I  saw  a  bunch 
of  spotted  sandpipers  drop  on  the  surface  of  the  water, 
where  they  were  apparently  as  much  at  home  as  the  sea- 
gulls. Although  I  had  never  seen  this  happen  before, 
nor  have  I  seen  it  since,  it  was  not  as  surprising  to  me  as 
was  the  sight  of  an  elephant  which  emerged  from  the 


STRANGE  CREATURES  MET  IN  THE  WATER    559 

early  morning  mist  some  years  ago  alongside  a  boat  of 
astonished  fishermen  in  New  York  Harbor.  The  es- 
caped animal  landed  at  New  Dorp,  apparently  having 
enjoyed  his  early  morning  bath. 

One  time  while  fishing  on  a  small  lake  I  observed  a 
great  commotion  in  another  boat  a  short  distance  away. 
One  of  the  fishermen  grasped  an  oar,  with  which  he 


Woodchuck  Swimming  Across  Big  Tink 

beat  some  object  in  the  water,  which  I  afterwards  dis- 
covered to  be  a  large  rattlesnake.  Jimmy  Rosencrantz, 
who  was  in  the  boat  at  the  time  and  who  killed  the 
snake,  said  that  as  the  reptile  swam  it  kept  its  rattle 
above  the  water.  It  is  the  second  rattlesnake  I  know 
of  being  killed  in  the  act  of  crossing  an  extensive  body 
of  water. 

A  few  years  ago  some  boys,  who  were  swimming 


560  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

from  the  pier  I  had  built  in  front  of  my  camp,  captured 
a  woodchuck  in  the  act  of  swimming  across  Big  Tink 
Pond.  They  killed,  cooked,  and  ate  the  little  animal. 

Audubon  describes  swamp  rabbits  which  are  expert 
swimmers,  but  the  ordinary  hare  and  rabbit,  when  in 
deep  water,  are  like  the  high-pooped  vessels  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  They  are  so  far  down  at  the  bow 
that  rough  water  would  probably  be  very  inconvenient 
to  them. 

During  the  migration  of  the  gray  squirrels  they  do 
not  stop  at  a  stream,  but  frequently  cross  the  largest  of 
rivers,  although  many  are  said  to  be  drowned  on  such 
occasions. 

ALMOST    ANY    BIRD    CAN    SWIM 

in  the  water  until  it  becomes  frightened  and  we.ts  its 
plumage.  I  once  put  a  pet  bantam  hen  in  a  bathtub 
filled  with  water  and  placed  all  her  little  fluffy  chickens 
carefully  in  the  water  beside  her,  where  they  floated 
as  lightly  as  so  many  ducks.  But  after  a  few  moments 
the  hen  realized  her  novel  position,  lost  confidence  and 
began  to  flap  her  wings,  which  splashed  the  water  over 
her  body  and  also  over  her  chicks,  and  had  I  not  hastily 
removed  them  they  would  have  drowned  in  the  tub. 

A  PET  CROW 

I  once  owned,  was  accustomed  to  bathe  in  a  shallow  fish 
pond  that  I  had  built  in  the  back  yard.  In  fact,  this 
little  shallow  body  of  water  was  the  only  one  with  which 
the  bird  was  familiar.  Consequently,  when  one  day  it 


STRANGE  CREATURES  MET  IN  THE  WATER    561 

flew  down  to  the  river  it  did  not  hesitate  to  alight  in  the 
middle  of  the  stream,  having  no  previous  experience  to 
teach  it  that  all  water  is  not  shallow.  The  crow  would 
have  drowned  had  not  some  boys  in  a  canoe  rescued  the 
very  wet  and  much  frightened  pet. 

All  of  our  native  deer  appear  to  be  good  swimmers 
and  fond  of  the  water.  The  caribou,  moose,  and  white- 
tailed  deer  have  frequently  been  photographed  while 
swimming,  but  these  photographs  show  the  poor  ani- 
mals plunging  along  in  a  desperate  effort  to  escape. 
A  deer  can,  however,  swim  very  quietly,  with  so  small 
a  part  of  its  head  appearing  above  the  water  as  to  at- 
tract little  or  no  attention. 

I  watched  a  doe  swim  across  Big  Tink  Pond  in  broad 
daylight  while  there  were  several  boats  upon  the  lake 
occupied  by  fishermen,  none  of  whom  observed  the  ani- 
mal. I  was  seated  upon  the  pier  with  my  field-glasses 
in  my  hand,  waiting  for  Uncle  Sam,  the  bald  eagle,  to 
come  down  to  the  lake,  when  I  noticed  something  that 
looked  like  an  inverted  basket  floating  on  the  water. 
The  next  time  I  looked  at  it  I  was  astonished  to  see 
that  it  had  traveled  quite  a  distance,  although  there  was 
no  current  to  the  water  and  no  wind  blowing.  I  then 
examined  the  object  with  my  field-glasses  and  discovered 
it  to  be  the  head  of  a  doe,  which  was  swimming  deep 
down  in  the  water,  with  its  ears  laid  back  behind  its 
head  and  its  eyes  and  nose  just  above  the  surface  of  the 
lake.  It  swam  noiselessly  and  rapidly  to  a  point  of 
woods,  where  it  stealthily  and  noiselessly  emerged  among 
the  rushes  and,  like  a  shadow,  faded  away  in  the  under- 
brush at  the  edge  of  the  forest. 


562 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


A  boat  is  one  of  the  best  vantage  grounds  from  which 
to  observe  the  wild  forest  folk  without  alarming  them. 
I  have  paddled  close  up  to  deer,  bear,  and  all  sorts  of 
wild  creatures  without  being  detected.  I  once  saw  a 


1  Plunging  along  in  a  Desperate  Effort  to  Escape 


2  Doe    Swimming   Noiselessly   and   Stealthily 

muskrat  swim  to  the  shore,  run  up  the  bank,  and  rapidly 
move  from  one  small  bush  to  another,  entirely  denuding 
them  of  their  leaves.  This  it  did  by  standing  on  its  hind 
legs  and  using  its  forepaws  to  bend  the  bush  down  with- 
in reach  of  its  mouth. 


STRANGE  CREATURES  MET  IN  THE  WATER    563 

ALL  THE    HUNTED   CREATURES   SEEM   TO   BE    FOREVER 
IN  A  HURRY, 

but  I  was  surprised  at  the  extreme  rapidity  with  which 
this  rodent  stripped  and  devoured  the  leaves  from  the 
bushes. 

A  couple  of  deer  which  came  into  the  backyard  of 
my  camp  at  Wild  Lands  fed  in  exactly  the  same  rapid 
manner;  they  also  stripped  the  leaves  from  the  small 
bushes  and  devoured  them  so  quickly  that  one  would 
think  that  these  animals  must  all  soon  be  victims  of 
chronic  indigestion. 

While  on  the  subject  of  the  stealthy  movements  of 
the  deer,  I  am  reminded  of  one  cold,  rainy  day  when, 
being  out  of  kerosene,  we  had  drawn  lots  to  see  who 
should  take  the  walk  of  eight  miles  to  the  railroad  sta- 
tion to  get  the  cans  filled.  With  my  usual  luck  I  won 
the  opportunity  for  myself,  and  with  my  head  down  to 
meet  the  storm,  I  was  trudging  along  the  muddy  road, 
the  two  cans  for  the  kerosene  banging  together,  making 
a  noise  like  a  cow-bell.  There  was  a  big  buck  lying  in 
the  bushes  alongside  of  the  road,  but  I  had  no  knowl- 
edge of  its  presence  until  I  was.  within  ten  feet  of  it, 
and  then  surprise  and  astonishment  almost  caused  me  to 
sit  down  in  the  muddy  road  when  the  animal  gave  a 
mighty  spring  from  its  resting  place  and  stood  for  an  in- 
stant before  me.  The  next  moment  its  body  sank  down 
as  low  as  that  of  a  stealthy  cat  creeping  on  its  prey,  and 
then  the  big  buck  glided  away  among  the  trees  like  a 
shadow,  without  making  the  slightest  noise.  So  quickly 
did  the  deer  disappear  that  for  a  few  moments  after 


564  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

the  occurrence  I  was  not  certain  in  my  mind  that  I  had 
seen  the  animal,  and  it  was  not  until  I  had  stepped  for- 
ward and  examined  its  bed,  which  still  felt  warm  to  the 
touch  of  my  hand,  that  I  was  convinced  that  my  eyes 
had  not  played  me  a  trick. 

THE  WOODS  ARE  FULL  OF  TRAGEDIES; 

the  lives  of  all  its  inhabitants  end  in  tragedy,  and  all 
the  modern  Nature  books  are  filled  with  accounts  of 


Even  Reynard  the  Fox  is  Never  Sure  of   His  Quarry 

these  tragedies,  so  that  the  casual  reader  is  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  there  are  practically  no  escapes.  But 
this  is  not  true;  even  Pussy  misses  more  birds  than  she 
catches,  and  I  have  seen  a  fishhawk,  one  of  the  most 
accurate  of  sportsmen,  miss  its  quarry,  and  even  Rey- 
nard the  Fox  is  never  sure  of  the  game  he  stalks. 

One  June  day  while  wading  through  the  tall  green 
grass  in  Southern  Ohio,  I  saw  a  red  fox  bounding  up  in 
a  manner  which  told  me  that  it  was  watching  something 


STRANGE  CREATURES  MET  IN  THE  WATER    565 

of  interest.  I  was  quite  close  to  the  fox,  but  so  intent 
was  the  latter  upon  the  object  of  pursuit  that  it  did  not 
see  or  heed  me.  Presently  it  came  to  a  little  open  spot  in 
the  grass,  where  a  bunch  of  bobwhites  were  scratching 
and  feeding  like  barnyard  fowls.  Watching  for  an  op- 
portune moment,  the  fox  suddenly  sprang  into  their 
midst,  but  all  he  secured  was  the  tail  feathers  of  one  of 
the  little  birds. 

The  little  exertion  required  to  pull  all  the  tail  feathers 
from  a  bird  seems  to  be  a  provision  of  Nature  purposely 
to  aid  the  bird  in  escaping  from  its  enemies. 

Once  when  I  succeeded  in  grasping  a  ruffed  grouse  by 
the  tail,  it  flew  away,  leaving  not  only  all  the  tail 
feathers  but  also  all  the  feathers  of  the  hind  part  of  its 
body  in  my  hand,  so  that  the  bird  was  nude  half  way  up 
its  body.  We  have  all  had  rats  and  squirrels  leave  the 
skin  of  their  tails  in  our  hands  and  escape.  Many  of 
the  lizards  and  even  some  of  the  snakes  when  caught  by 
the  tail  leave  the  whole  of  that  portion  of  their  anatomy 
squirming  in  the  grasp  of  the  enemy,  while  the  rest  of 
the  reptile  makes  good  its  escape. 

There  is  one  noticeable  peculiarity  about  all  the  lower 
animals  when  they  have  an  adventure.  .As  soon  as  the 
adventure  is  over  and  the  danger  passed  it  is  apparently 
forgotten.  Only  last  week  I  pulled  a  lusty  trout  to  the 
top  of  the  water,  to  see  it  slip  off  my  hook,  drop 
back  again  in  the  pool  and  escape  to  the  shadow  of 
a  big  stone.  I  put  a  fresh  worm  on  my  hook  and  threw 
it  carefully  to  the  retreat  and  had  the  satisfaction  of 
landing  the  same  fish  and  placing  it  on  the  fresh  grass  in 
my  creel ;  but  this  was  a  very  foolhardy  fish. 


566  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

The  heron,  told  of  on  page  475,  which  escaped  the  at- 
tack from  Uncle  Sam,  after  the  adventure  was  over, 
looked  over  its  shoulder,  gave  vent  to  a  contemptuous 
"  quok,"  and  the  incident  was  closed. 

The  quail  which  had  had  such  a  narrow  escape  from 
the  fox  flew  up  to  the  limb  of  a  neighboring  tree,  where 


The  Blue  Heron  Whips  an  Eagle 

they  began  preening  their  feathers  as  if  nothing  had 
happened. 

A  little  white-footed  mouse  that  ventured  out  on  the 
lily  pads  on  the  shores  of  Big  Tink  was  observed  by  a 
large  bass-.  The  fish  gave  a  jump  and  a  rush,  but  the 
mouse  was  too  alert  for  the  fish  to  catch  and  it  escaped 
over  the  lily  pads  to  the  shore,  where  it  immediately  be- 


STRANGE  CREATURES  MET  IN  THE  WATER   567 

gan  playing  around  among  the  brush  as  if  nothing  had 
happened. 

An  ordinary  man  having  as  narrow  an  escape  from 
death  would  be  all  of  a  tremble  for  an  hour  afterward, 
and  he  would  tell  with  bated  breath  how  all  his  past  life 
passed  before  him.  But  the  rule  of  the  wilderness  is 
that  each  creature  must  individually  acquire  its  own  ex- 
perience and  not  forget  what  experience  has  taught,  but 
at  the  same  time  not  worry  over  past  dangers.  What 
they  teach  us  by  their  actions  is,  if  we  have  had  a  close 
call  and  escaped,  don't  borrow  trouble;  forget  it! 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

THE  VERY  IMPORTANT  BUT  VERY  LITTLE  PEOPLE  OF 
THE  OUT-DOOR  WORLD  AND  THE  ASTOUNDING  THINGS 
THEY  DO 

MANY  of  my  frosty-headed  readers  smile  with 
glee  when  they  remember  the  time  that  they 
were  freckled-faced,  tow-headed,  and  bare- 
footed country  boys,  the  terror  of  all  owners  of  orchards 
and  melon  patches.  This  is  not  written,  however,  to  re- 
call the  memory  of  the  orchard  and  the  melon  patch,  or 
of  other  boyish  escapades,  but  to  remind  them  of  the 
happy  days  spent  in  the  midst  of  tall,  waving  corn 
catching  the  ants  from  one  hill  and  transferring  them  to 
another  to  see  the  little  insects  fight,  or  carefully  placing 
hairs  from  the  tail  of  the  plow  horse  in  the  pool  in  the 
swail,  firmly  convinced  that  the  sun  and  water  would 
transform  them  into  living  "  snakes." 

But  schoolboys  are  not  the  only  ones  who  believe  in 
such  myths.  Not  long  ago  I  had  a  letter  from  a  man  sol- 
emnly telling  me  that  he  had  killed  a  hoop  snake,  and 
every  day  I  meet  people  who  are  firmly  convinced  that 
the  gordius  or  horsehair  u  snake  "  is  really  produced 
from  hairs*  which  have  been  accidentally  dropped  into 
water.  If  you  tell  them  that  you  have  personally  con- 
ducted experiments  in  this  line,  the  result  being  only 

568 


LITTLE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  OUT-DOOR  WORLD    569 

water-soaked  hair,  they  will  answer  that  you  did  not 
pluck  the  hair  out  by  the  roots  and  that  it  is  the  root  that 
makes  the  head  to  the  "snake";  besides,  the  water 
must  be  muddy  and  warm.  When  these  conditions  are 
all  right,  they  say,  the  hair  will  absorb  the  vitalizing 
elements,  and  the  substance  of  the  hair  being  itself  live 
animal  matter,  it  only  changes  its  habits  when  it  begins 
an  independent  life  as  a  hair  animal. 

Thus  the  myth  is  passed  on  from  one  generation  to 
another.  But  naturalists  will  tell  you  that  the  larvae 
or  the  young  of  the  gordius  are  sort  of  tadpole-like 
animals  which  live  in  the  bodies  of  live  May  flies  and 
caddis  flies. 

Since  the  horsehair  "  snake  "  is  aquatic  in  its  habits, 
and  the  larvae  of  both  the  caddis  fly  and  the  May  fly 
also  live  in  the  wrater,  it  does  not  seem  improbable  that 
the  gordius  should  find  its  way  to  the  inside  of  their 
bodies.  I  have  caught  many  caddis  worms,  May  flies, 
and  caddis  flies,  but  I  never  discovered  any  live  creatures 
inside  of  them.  While  out  trout  fishing  one  day,  how- 
ever, I  selected  a  black  cricket  for  bait,  and  as  I  im- 
paled the  insect  upon  the  hook  I  was  astonished  to  see 
a  full  grown  gordius  five  or  six  inches  in  length  emerge 
from  the  cricket's  body  through  the  hole  made  by  the 
fishhook. 

The  body  of  the  cricket  was  not  more  than  a  half  inch 
in  length,  consequently  the  horsehair  "  snake  "  inside 
must  have  been  wound  up  like  a  watch  spring,  not  leav- 
ing much  room  for  anything  else  in  the  line  of  intestines 
and  other  necessary  organs. 

One  of  the  most  familiar  of  insects  is  the  common  fly, 


570  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

and  for  that  very  reason  it  seems  to  have  escaped  the 
serious  study  which  has  been  devoted  to  some  more  rare 
species.  Last  summer,  while  paddling  for  three  weeks 
down  a  wilderness  stream  we  did  not  see  a  single  house 
fly  until  a  few  hours  before  we  struck  the  first  back- 
woods settlement.  Then  a  fly  lit  upon  my  hand.  Point- 
ing to  the  fly  I  said  to  my  Indian,  "  Come  to  house  soon, 
eh?"  The  Indian  smiled  and  replied,  "  Wey,  ze 
house  we  see  soon,  maybe  dinner  time."  At  my  log 
cabin  at  Wildlands  there  are  no  house  flies  until  the 
teams  come  up  from  the  station  with  the  baggage  and 
provisions.  The  house  fly  accompanies  both  the  oxen 
and  the  horses  and  then  stops  over  to  visit  us. 

On  a  cold  day  the  flies  all  crawl  up  the  chimney  to  get 
warm  over  the  smoldering  fire,  but  if  a  fresh  log  is 
thrown  on  the  embers  it  is  amusing  to  see  two  proces- 
sions of  flies  hurriedly  marching  down,  each  side  of  the 
fireplace  in  search  of  cooler  quarters.  If  you  want  to 
keep  flies  out  of  your  farm  house  you  must  put  screens 
on  the  top  of  the  big  chimney. 

I  said  that  there  were  no  house  flies  in  the  wilderness; 
the  truth  is  we  do  not  need  them  there.  Their  place  is 
bountifully  supplied  by  myriads  of  little  humpbacked 
insects  known  as  the  black  fly,  only  too  familiar  to 
anglers  who  frequent  the  north  woods.  The  bite  of  a 
black  fly  produces  a  red  spot  about  the  size  of  a  soda 
mint  tablet,  which  feels  as  if  a  pinch  of  cow  itch  and  a 
red-hot  coal  had  been  introduced  under  the  skin.  Fish- 
ermen protect  themselves  by  the  use  of  various  "  dopes," 
with  which  they  anoint  their  face  and  hands,  and  also 
by  a  net  worn  over  their  heads  and  kid  gloves  on  their 


LITTLE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  OUT-DOOR  WORLD    571 

hands.  The  ends  of  the  fingers  of  the  glove  are  cut  off 
to  give  freedom  to  the  fingers  and  muslin  sleeves  are 
sewed  to  the  tops  to  protect  the  arms.  But  with  all 
these  protections  I  have  suffered  the  torments  of  the 
damned  from  the  attacks  of  these  minute  insects. 

One  time  when  1  was  camping  in  the  north  woods  the 
exposed  portions  of  my  finger  tips  were  eaten  until  they 


A  Bear  Driven  Wild  by  Black  Flies 

were  perfectly  raw.  The  flies  even  got  inside  of  my 
shirt,  and  I  almost  wished  that  I  was  back  in  the  city.  I 
felt  ashamed  of  myself  to  think  that  I  should  allow  little 
things  like  black  flies  to  cause  me  so  much  discomfort, 
so  I  inquired  of  a  number  of  the  Indians  what  effect  the 
black  fly  had  upon  the  wild  game  besides  driving  the 
deer  and  moose  to  water. 

One  famous  bear  hunter,  whose  camp  was  littered 
with  the  skulls  of  these  beasts,  told  me  that  he  had  often 
seen  a  bear,  driven  wild  by  the  attack  of  the  black  fly, 


572  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

go  crashing  through  the  forest  and  turn  somersault  after 
somersault  in  the  vain  effort  to  rid  himself  of  these  min- 
ute enemies. 

I  have  seen  lumps  as  large  as  a  baseball  on  the  fore- 
heads and  the  backs  of  the  hands  of  people  exposed  to 
the  attack  of  the  black  fly,  and  I  feel  convinced  that  the 
exposure  of  the  entire  person  to  the  bites  of  these  in- 
sects would  cause  death  to  the  victim. 

Not  long  since,  while  returning  home  from  a  trip  in 
the  black  fly  country,  I  met  a  physician  of  national  fame, 
who  is  also  a  member  of  the  Camp  Fire  Club  of  Amer: 
ica.  He,  too,  was  returning  from  a  camping  trip. 
The  doctor  said  that  the  bite  of  any  insect  might  pro- 
duce death,  and  that  the  black  fly  did  produce  death 
when  it  had  previously  been  feeding  upon  the  blood  of 
some  diseased  animal,  and  transferred  the  poison  into 
the  healthy  subject,  the  effect  being  a  fatal  "  malignant 
postule." 

Recently  I  saw  in  the  daily  paper  a  report  from  the 
Cobalt  region  stating  that  six  men  had  perished  from 
poison  injected  by  the  black  fly. 

In  1880  a  very  remarkable  "  fly  storm  "  occurred  at 
Havre,  and  the  same  year  here  in  America  the  steamer 
"  Mary  Powell,"  of  Haverstraw,  ran  into  a  bank  of  flies 
which  appeared  like  a  great  drift  of  black  snow  extend- 
ing as  far  as  the  eyes  could  reach. 

There  were  millions  upon  millions  of  long  black  flies 
with  white  wings.  Of  course,  the  crew  of  the  "  Mary 
Powell  "  are  not  naturalists,  and  any  sort  of  an  insect 
might  be  classed  by  them  under  the  head  of  "  flies." 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  reports  from  England, 


LITTLE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  OUT-DOOR  WORLD    573 

when  the  village  of  Emsworth  was  visited  by  a  remark- 
able "  storm  of  flies."  So  thick  were  they  that  the  in- 
habitants had  to  put  handkerchiefs  over  their  faces  to 
keep  from  inhaling  them  into  their  lungs. 

Another  "  fly  storm  "  was  encountered  by  the  "  Bay 
Queen  "  on  its  trip  from  Providence  to  Newport. 

In  all  of  these  so-called  fly  storms  the  insects  were 
probably  not  true  flies,  but  what  are  known  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  as  day  flies,  May  flies  and  shad 
flies.  I  have  seen  one  of  these  so-called  "  fly  storms  " 
on  Lake  Erie,  when  they  were  so  thick  that  the  lights 
had  to  be  put  out  in  the  summer  hotels  and  lanterns 
placed  along  the  verandas  to  keep  the  insects  out  of  the 
bedrooms  and  parlors.  I  have  sailed  through  twenty 
miles  of  scum  composed  of  the  cast  off  skins  of  May 
flies,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Licking  river,  in  Kentucky, 
I  have  myself  been  compelled  to  cover  my  face  with 
my  handkerchief  to  keep  the  little  lace-winged  May  flies 
from  being  drawn  into  my  nose  or  mouth  with  my 
breath. 

The  May  fly  is  a  harmless  insect,  the  larvae  (young) 
of  which  lives  in  the  water,  like  those  of  the  dragon  fly 
and  the  mosquito,  but  all  of  us  who  are  familiar  with 
accounts  of  the  storms  of  locusts  in  Africa  and  grasshop- 
pers in  our  own  West,  know  that  the  latter  insects  are 
anything  but  harmless.  They  will  devour  every  green 
sprig  and  leaf  within  reach.  They  cover  the  street  so 
thickly  that  the  horses  slip  and  fall  upon  the  bodies 
mashed  underfoot.  The  grasshoppers  eat  up  the  cloth- 
ing hung  up  on  the  lines  to  dry.  A  flight  of  these  insects 
is  not  called  "  a  storm,"  but  a  plague  of  locusts. 


574  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

A  locomotive  attached  to  a  loaded  train  on  the  Chota- 
Nagpur  railroad  of  India  was  charged  by  a  rogue  ele- 
phant, derailed,  and  put  out  of  commission,  but  the  ele- 
phant lost  its  own  life  in  the  act. 

When  we  think  of  the  size  of  a  large  elephant  we  are 
not  surprised  that  one  could  derail  a  train,  but  when 
one  looks  at  a  potato  bug,  an  army  worm,  a  grasshopper, 
or  a  June  bug,  it  seems  as  if  it  would  be  an  impossible 
task  for  these  little  insects  to  stop  the  onrushing,  heavy, 
and  powerful  locomotive,  with  its  long,  heavily  loaded 
train.  Nevertheless,  they  have  done  it  over  and  over 
again.  When  an  army  of  the  tiny  creatures  are  caught 
on  an  up-grade  the  mashed  bodies  of  the  insects  make 
the  track  so  slippery  that  the  huge  drive  wheels  of  the 
engine  whirl  and  buzz  in  impotent  wrath,  unable  to 
move  an  inch  on  their  way. 

In  1888  the  inhabitants  around  Ninety-six,  S.  C,  were 
aroused  one  night  by  a  fall  of  black  "bugs."  (The 
"bugs"  were  probably  beetles.)  The  same  phenom- 
enon had  happened  in  that  county  before.  A  similar 
cloud  of  black  beetles,  in  a  state  of  religious  fervor,  en- 
tered a  church  in  Chenoa,  111.,  during  service.  The 
pastor  and  the  congregation  beat  a  retreat  and  left  the 
church  in  possession  of  the  beetles. 

Most  of  my  readers  have  seen  very  lively,  brilliant, 
metallic,  green-colored  beetles  run  along  the  dusty  road 
or  sandy  shore,  fly  a  short  distance  ahead  and  then  run 
along  again.  In  1887  a  cloud  of  these  beetles,  or  some 
nearly  related  species,  invaded  the  town  of  Trenton, 
Mo.,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  people. 

This  notion  of  migrating  in  vast  armies  does  not  seem 


LITTLE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  OUT-DOOR  WORLD    575 

to  be  confined  to  any  special  breed  of  animals.  There 
is  a  common  little  fellow  known  as  the  gossamer  spider. 
He  is  an  aeronaut  by  profession,  and  makes  himself  a 
tailless  kite  of  a  bunch  of  his  own  web,  attaches  to  it  a 
string  of  the  same  material,  then  as  the  zephyr  catches 
the  gossamer  kite,  the  little  aeronaut  lets  go  all  hold  of 
the  earth  and  sails  aloft.  All  of  us  have  brushed  these 
webs  from  our  faces  and  many  of  us  wondered  how  they 
came  to  be  stretched  across  the  paths  and  sidewalks. 

In  May,  1890,  an  odd  fog  bank  a  thousand  or  more 
feet  long  and  several  feet  thick  was  observed  in  Cali- 
fornia. When  this  phenomenon  slowly  settled  upon 
the  earth  the  wonder-stricken  spectators  were  horrified 
to  discover  that  it  contained  millions  and  millions  of 
spiders.  It  was  a  mighty  migration  of  gossamer 
spiders. 

From  my  studio  window  on  Fifth  avenue,  in  New 
York  city,  I  have  seen  a  cloud  of  the  black  and  red  milk- 
weed butterflies  passing  over  the  city.  I  have  seen  the 
same  thing  in  St.  Louis  and  also  from  the  top  of  the 
Mercantile  National  Bank,  on  lower  Broadway.  In 
1889  a  butterfly  storm  swept  over  Carson,  Nev.  From 
the  printed  description  of  the  insects  they  appear  to  have 
been  the  imported  European  butterfly  (Vanessa  anti- 
opa). 

A  large  cloud  of  minute  butterflies  visited  parts  of 
California  in  the  same  year,  and  similar  phenomena  are 
reported  from  Canada  and  abroad,  but  storms  of  butter- 
flies will  frighten  nothing  except  horses  and  farmers. 
A  cloud  of  wasps  or  bees,  however,  will  stampede  al- 
most any  living  thing. 


576 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


INSECTS    DISABLE    A    RIVER    STEAMER 

Recently  the  steamboat  "  Liberty,"  running  between 
Piasa,  Chautauqua,  and  Alton,  encountered  near  St. 
Louis  a  swarm  of  those  ephemeral  insects  with  lace-like 
wings,  soft,  long  bodies,  variously  known  as  day  fly, 


A  Spill  of  Hornets 

May  fly,  or  shad  fly.  The  insects  settled  in  clouds  on  the 
boat,  got  mixed  up  with  the  machinery  until  it  ceased  to 
work  and  set  the  mate,  pilot,  and  engineer  off  in  search 
of  new  adjectives  to  express  their  feelings. 

There  was  no  sign  of  any  unusual  congregation  of  in- 
sects on  the  journey  up  the  river,  and  the  sudden  attack 


LITTLE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  OUT-DOOR  WORLD    577 

on  the  return  found  the  young  people  on  the  upper  decks 
enjoying  the  breeze.  Those  nearest  the  searchlight  suf- 
fered most,  but  none  escaped  the  creatures,  which  buzzed 
and  beat  their  way  beneath  collars  and  cuffs,  and  into 
eyes,  noses,  mouths,  and  ears.  To  relieve  the  passen- 
gers, the  lights  on  the  upper  deck  were  put  out. 

There  was  a  large  paper  balloon  built  by  the  hornets 
on  a  little  maple  tree  near  the  shores  of  Big  Tink  Pond, 
and,  having  upon  various  occasions  been  made  painfully 
aware  of  the  exceedingly  rapid  manner  in  which  the 
hornets  emerge  from  their  nest,  I  determined,  if  pos- 
sible, to  discover  how  they  did  it.  Selecting  a  position 
close  to  the  hornets'  nest,  where  I  was  protected  by  the 
banks  of  the  lake,  I  threw  a  stick  at  the  little  maple  tree. 
Instantly  a  hundred  or  more  hornets  poured  from  the 
hole  in  the  nest.  It  seems  that  it  is  their  habit  to 
have  their  soldiers,  so  to  speak,  placed  in  such  a 
position  that  by  letting  go  all  hold  they  drop  through 
the  hole.  None  of  these  hornets  took  wing  until  all  had 
fallen  some  distance  below  the  nest;  then  they  spread  in 
every  direction  looking  for  their  foe,  but  no  moving  ob- 
ject being  in  sight,  they  gradually  recovered  from  their 
excitement  and  returned  to  duty. 

During  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  a  large  portion  of 
the  Union  Army  had  been  marching  for  weeks  through 
a  country  devastated  by  both  Federals  and  Confed- 
erates. Their  rations  were  almost  exhausted  and  they 
had  been  on  half  fare  for  three  weeks,  when  they  sud- 
denly struck  a  country  literally  "  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey."  Strict  orders  were  given  that  no  looting  should 
be  done,  but  even  military  discipline  cannot  restrain 


578 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


hungry  men,  and  all  along  the  line  the  soldiers  were 
breaking  from  the  ranks  and  robbing  the  farms.  The 
general  and  his  staff  came  up  to  where  a  group  of  sol- 
diers were  pillaging  a  prosperous  farm.  The  general 
sternly  ordered  one  of  his  young  staff  officers  to  go  in 
and  stop  the  men  and  the  young  officer  put  spurs  to  his 
horse  to  obey  the  order. 

There  were  some  old-fashioned  beehives  made  of 


The  Bees  did  not  Sting  the   Soldier  Who  Picked  Up  a  Hive 

straw  twisted  in  spiral  cones,  and  the  soldiers  had  dis- 
covered that  by  picking  these  up  and  running  with  them 
the  bees  would  stream  out  behind  and  not  hurt  the  man 
with  the  hive.  It  so  happened  that  a  soldier  had  picked 
up  a  hive  just  as  the  staff  officer  came  within  reach.  It 
is  needless  to  say  that  the  staff  officer  gave  no  order  to 
the  men.  "  His  horse's  tail  went  around  like  a  Fourth  of 
July  pinwheel,  which  was  rivaled  by  the  rapid  revolu- 
tions of  the  staff  officer's  military  cap.  The  horse 


LITTLE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  OUT-DOOR  WORLD    579 

charged  straight  into  the  mass  of  moving  soldiers  and 
disappeared  down  the  long  line.  Its  progress  could 
be  noted  only  by  the  commotion  caused  in  the  dusty 
ranks  of  the  men  and  the  waving  forest  of  muskets,  but 
the  sequel  was  that  all  the  men  of  the  Thirtieth  Mis- 
souri regiment  had  more  honey  than  hard  tack  that 
night  for  supper. 

During  the  draft  riots  in  New  York  word  was  sent 
to  a  well-known  Quaker  gentleman  in  Flushing  that 
the  mob  was  going  to  visit  him  on  the  following  day, 
and  they  did  march  out  to  within  a  short  distance  of  his 
suburban  home,  but  fortunately  for  the  rabble  they,  for 
some  reason,  turned  back.  I  asked  the  old  gentleman 
what  preparations  he  had  made  for  receiving  his  guests 
and  he  replied :  "  Friend  Daniel,  thee  knows  that  we 
Friends  do  not  fight,  but  I  distributed  my  beehives 
around  my  veranda  in  such  a  position  that  I  could 
easily  upset  the  hives  and  enter  the  house.  I  also  filled 
several  bottles  with  live  bees,  covering  the  opening  with 
gauze  to  let  in  the  air;  these  were  not  intended  to  throw 
at  the  people  who  might  visit  me,  but  it  was  my  purpose 
to  free  the  poor  captives  when  the  crowd  came  by  throw- 
ing the  bottles  from  my  window  and  smashing  them 
on  the  driveway  around  the  house."  And  as  the  old 
gentleman  told  me  this  I  could  see  that  his  peaceful  soul 
was  filled  with  regret  because  the  mob  had  not  com- 
plimented him  by  a  visit  and  given  him  the  opportunity 
of  using  his  bees  to  defend  his  home. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 


CURIOSITY    OF    BIRDS    AND    BEASTS BRUTES    AS    ART 

CRITICS FOOLED  BY  A  REAL  OWL — VOICES  OF  THE 

NIGHT 

MANY  birds  possess  a  great  deal  of  curiosity,  as 
everyone  knows  who  has  owned  a  pet  crow. 
One  time  when  I  was  sketching  down  in  Jack- 
sonville, Fla.,  I  was  astonished  to  find  two  queer  heads 

thrust  between  my  face  and 
my  sketching  pad.  The 
tops  of  the  heads  were  cov- 
ered with  a  rough,  red  skin, 
sprinkled  with  short  black 
hairs.  They  had  long  black 
beaks,  but  I  did  not  wait  to 
observe  more.  Instinctively 
I  raised  my  drawing-pad 
and  struck  at  the  intruders, 
with  the  result  that  I  had  a 
race  of  two  blocks,  pursued 
by  two  noisy  and  very  angry 
sandhill  cranes. 

The  birds  were  tame  ones  belonging  to  some  citizen, 
and  their  curiosity  was  excited  to  such  an  extent  that 

580 


CURIOSITY  OF  BIRDS  AND  BEASTS        581 

they  personally  inspected  my  drawings.  I  really  think 
that  the  people  on  the  street  enjoyed  the  event  more  than 
I  did. 

Curiosity  seems  to  be  very  much  developed  in  many 
wild  creatures,  and  it  is  probably  owing  to  the  fact  that 
the  panther  possesses  a  large  amount  of  it  that  causes 
this  animal  to  follow  people  for  miles  and  miles  with 
no  apparent  reason,  for  I  have  no  record  of  one  mak- 
ing an  attack  upon  a  traveler  under  these  circumstances. 
Where  panthers  abound,  however,  there  is  always  an  un- 
comfortable feeling  experienced  by  the  artist  while 
sketching  in  the  wilderness. 

A  man  sketching  or  painting  seems  to  excite  the  great- 
est curiosity  and  interest  not  only  among  his  fellow-men, 
but    among    his    four- 
footed      brothers      as        *      ^jp^JL 
well.    I  was  once  mak-        /|L       lj$\ 
ing  a  map  of  a  town       I  l^^^ot?' 
and,     while     stepping  JLlJljjifasM^ 
on    a    short    distance,     V    ^\^^^^f^/^ 
passed  a  horse  hitched  An  Uncomfortable  Feeling 

to  a  heavy  cart.    After 

making  my  measurements  I  was  busy  drawing  in  the 
houses  with  a  scale  and  ruler,  when  I  was  startled  by  a 
large  nose  over  my  shoulder.  Turning  around  I  dis- 
covered that  the  horse  had  drawn  the  cart  for  half  a 
block  so  that  he  might  see  what  I  was  doing  with  the 
paper  and  pencil. 

Once  when  I  was  sketching  on  the  coast  of  Maine  a 
family  of  minks  which  inhabited  the  rocky  shore  began 
to  play  "  follow  the  leader  "  around  my  feet,  over  which 


582 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


they  would  jump,  backward  and  forward,  while  I  was 
working  on  my  sketch. 

In  the  olden  days  when  the  buffalo,  elk,  and  antelope 
covered  the  Western  prairie  it  was  sometimes  a  difficult 
problem  for  the  buckskin-clad  trapper  and  plainsman 
to  get  within  rifle  shot  of  the  prong  horns,  and  it  was 


Horse  Studying  Art 

then  that  he  resorted  to  various  absurd  maneuvers, 
such  as  lying  on  his  back  with  his  feet  in  the  air  to  excite 
the  curiosity  of  the  timid  game.  In  this  or  some  similar 
way  he  would  induce  the  little  creatures  to  approach 
within  range  of  his  deadly,  "  new  purchase  "  rifle,  and 
then  he  seldom  failed  in  securing  at  least  one  of  the 
bunch. 

Men  devoid  of  curiosity  would  make  no  investigation, 


CURIOSITY  OF  BIRDS  AND  BEASTS 


583 


no  experiments,  and  consequently  no  progress,  and  it 
would  be  interesting  to  know  how  much  the  possession 
of  this  trait  in  other  creatures  has  to  do  with  their 
mental  development  and  their  position  among  the  higher 
animals.  When  camping  on  the  high  bluff  overlooking 
the  torrent  of  the  Pend,Oreille,  it  was  hard  to  tell  when 


Fooling  the  Animals 

evening  came,  for  at  half-past  nine  o'clock  at  night  in 
August  it  was  still  light  enough  for  fly  fishing. 

We  knew  when  it  was  time  to  retire,  not  because  of 
the  approaching  darkness,  but  because  at  bedtime  a 
procession  of  solemn  skunks  would  climb  up  the  steep 
sides  of  the  canon  and  march  into  camp.  As  soon  as 
we  saw  them  approaching  we  would  hastily  bid  each 
other  ugood-night "  and  enter  our  tepees  and  tents, 


584 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


being  careful  to  securely  fasten  the  flap  of  the  tents  after 
we  had  entered.  It  was  still  light  when  we  retired,  and 
it  was  light  when  we  got  up  in  the  morning.  If  it  is 
ever  dark  there  I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  the 
fact,  but  I  suppose  some  time  during  our  slumbers  dark- 
ness must  have  spread  over  the  prairie.  There  were  in- 
sects around  our  camp  in  plenty.  There  were  crickets 
as  large  almost  as  the  field  mice  of  the  East  (see  page 


The  Voice  of  the  Coyote 

359),  which  ate  tobacco  and  everything  in  reach,  but  if 
they  sang  at  night  I  did  not  hear  them.  The  music 
which  soothed  us  to  slumber  on  the  Flathead  Reserva- 
tion was  the  sound  of  rushing  and  gurgling  water,  the 
distant  lowing  of  wild  cattle,  and  the  yap,  yap,  yap  of 
the  coyote. 

I  am  not  a  musician  and  hence  can  give  you  no  musical 
scale  of  the  -coyote's  voice,  but  here  is  a  diagram  of  it 
which  may  convey  to  the  reader  some  idea  of  the  song 
of  this  prairie  ventriloquist.  A  single  coyote  can  throw 


CURIOSITY  OF  BIRDS  AND  BEASTS         585 

his  voice  a  mile  away  and  then  startle  you  with  the  noise 
of  a  pack  in  full  cry  at  your  heels,  and  all  the  time  the 
little  animal  will  be  sitting  behind  a  stone  not  fifty  yards 
from  you. 

If  you  have  ever  seen  one  of  these  little  wolves  in 
cockle  burr  time  you  will  forgive  it  for  many  of  its  sins, 
on  the  ground  that  it  has  received  all  the  punishment 
due  even  a  wicked  animal.  The  coyote's  whole  body  is 
then  covered  with  burrs  and  the  poor  thing's  tail  is  a 
heavy,  round  ball  of  hair  and  burrs.  They  are  comical 
in  appearance,  and  as  they  go  bobbing  over  the  prairie 
one  cannot  help  laughing,  unless  pity  for  the  misery  of 
the  brute  curbs  one's  mirth. 

When  we  changed  camp  to  a  swail,  where  some  tall 
cottonwood  trees  grew  on  the  edge  of  a  marshy  brook, 
the  hum  of  the  insects  was  very  noticeable,  and  their 
voice  had  a  familiar  Eastern  accent.  In  fact,  we  had  to 
fill  our  frying-pans  with  hot  coals  and  cover  them  with 
green  boughs,  to  smudge  out  our  tents  before  the  mos- 
quitoes would  allow  us  to  sleep.  Here  it  was  that  the 
sulphur-breasted  fly  catchers  abounded,  and  their  loud, 
clear  voices  awoke  us  early  in  the  morning — so  early  that 
the  light  from  the  outside,  coming  through  our  canvas 
roof,  was  of  a  gray  color,  that  showed  no  traces  of  sun- 
shine. Comfortably  snuggled  in  our  sleeping  bags,  like 
caterpillars  in  their  cocoons,  we  were  content  to  lie 
awake  and  watch  the  antics  of  the  big  ground  squirrels, 
which  at  early  dawn  used  the  steep  sides  of  our  tepee  for 
a  toboggan  slide. 

I  said  we  watched  the  antics  of  these  animals,  but 
really  it  was  only  a  shadow  pantomime,  for  it  was  their 


586 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


shadows  on  the  canvas  that  entertained  us.  The  little 
animals  were  having  "  dead  loads  of  fun  ";  they  would 
run  and  scramble  up  the  tepee  as  far  as  possible  and  then 
slide  down,  just  as  the  naked  boys  do  down  the  muddy 
banks  of  the  Southern  rivers.  The  animals  appeared 
about  the  size  of  large  muskrats,  but  we  never  saw 


A  Barking  Fox 

them,  for  whenever  we  poked  our  heads  out  of  the  tent 
door  they  disappeared,  and  there  was  nothing  in  sight. 
The  foxes  bark  at  night,  and  in  the  afternoon.  I 
watched  one  while  giving  voice,  and  it  did  it  so  quickly 
and  looked  so  solemn  immediately  afterward  that  at  first 
I  was  not -certain  that  the  animal  under  observation 
made  the  noise.  As  a  rule  the  fox  gives  three  barks 
in  quick  succession.  "  Ow!  ow!  ow!  "  with  the  accent  on 


CURIOSITY  OF  BIRDS  AND  BEASTS         587 

the  first  letter.  This  almost  makes  it  sound  like 
"  iough,"  but  u  ow  "  comes  nearer  to  it.  I  have  never 
seen  the  female  fox  bark,  although  she  probably  answers 
the  male. 

A  bear  when  surprised  makes  a  noise  in  its  throat 
like  "  oug,"  and  ends  through  its  nose  with  "  i-s-s-s  "; 
but  when  talking  together  they  say  "ou-e-e-ee!  "  with 
variations. 

When  the  stillness  of  the  night  is  broken  by  the 
scream  of  a  puma  the  sound  does  not  lull  one  to  sleep, 
although  after  the  novelty  of  the  noise  has  worn  off  the 
scream  of  this  beast  will  probably  do  no  more  than  make 
the  camper  roll  over,  grumble  a  little,  and  then  doze  off 
again  to  Nemo's  Land.  But  when  an  old  she-grizzly 
with  cubs  spends  a  quarter  of  an  hour  sniffling  around 
the  hem  of  the  tent  and  you  are  armed  only  with  a  five- 
ounce  trout  rod,  the  experience  is  not  at  all  conducive 
to  sound,  dreamless  slumber. 

One  night,  when  we  were  camped  on  the  Jocko,  in 
Montana,  the  tents  had  been  placed  in  a  circle  with  the 
doors  facing  out.  This  was  for  privacy,  and  gave  us 
all  dressing-rooms  of  miles  in  extent,  because  each  door 
faced  away  from  the  other.  On  this  particular  night 

A  BEAR  ENTERED  THE  CIRCLE, 

and,  as  all  our  doors  faced  the  other  way,  we  could 
not  see  the  creature,  but  anyone  could  have  heard*  it 
a  mile  away.  The  bear  ate  up  all  our  butter,  and 
in  the  morning  the  butter  pail  looked  as  if  it  had 
been  scoured  with  sapolio.  As  the  only  arms  we  carried 


588 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


consisted  of  light  trout  rods,  we  listened  to  the  earnest 
persuasion  of  our  wives  and  did  not  attempt  to  drive 
Bruin  away. 

The  proverbial  bull  in  a  china  shop  is  utterly  incap- 
able of  making  half  the  noise  of  one  bear  among  the 


We  Listened  to  the  Earnest  Persuasion  of  Our  Wives 

camp  kettles.  Our  complacency  upon  this  occasion  and 
our  ability  to  see  the  humor  of  it  was  largely  due  to  the 
fact  that  we  intended  to  break  camp  early  in  the  morn- 
ing and  eat  our  breakfast  on  the  dining-car,  where  there 
was  plenty  of  good  butter. 

In  the -spring  and  early  summer  the  windless  nights 
are  all  silent,  except  during  the  noisy  period,  when 
the  peeper  and  the  brown  wood  frog  are  in  voice. 


CURIOSITY  OF  BIRDS  AND  BEASTS         589 

Once  in  a  while  a  bird  will  wake  up  and  sing;  more 
frequently,  however,  the  noise  they  make  is  evidently  of 
the  same  nature  as  that  of  a  dog  which  yelps  in  its 
dreams,  or  the  man  who  mumbles  in  his  slumbers.  But 
the  little  interruptions  made  by  restless  birds  only  make 
silence  more  palpable. 

At  the  close  of  one  blustering  November  day  I  was 
sitting  on  the  rough  stone  veranda  to  my  log  house, 
when  a  voice  behind  the  building  shouted  "  Hoo-hoo, 
hoo-hoo !  Who-ah !  "  and  I  smikd  to  myself  at  what  I 
thought  to  be  someone's  crude  attempt  to  imitate  an 
owl.  I  thought  that  it  was  too  loud,  too  much  of  a 
yell,  and  altogether  a  very  poor  imitation.  Imagine 
my  dismay  when,  on  investigation,  I  discovered  nobody 
back  of  the  house,  but  on  a  limb  of  a  white  oak  there 
sat  two  big  owls  laughing  in  a  loud,  fiendish  manner 
at  my  discomfiture. 

Last  summer,  while  on  an  expedition  exploring  a  new 
district  west  of  Lake  St.  John,  I  heard  the  owls  hoot- 
ing at  noontime  near  our  camp.  But  hoot-owls  only 
occasionally  visit  my  camp  in  Pennsylvania,  and  I  have 
had  city  visitors  come  to  Wild  Lands  who  declared  that 
the  silence  at  night  was  so  intense  that  it  hurt  their  ear 
drums  with  its  pressure. 

Along  about  the  Fourth  of  July,  when  the  chestnut 
trees  are  in  bloom,  the  lightning  bugs  make  their  ap- 
pearance and  sprinkle  the  dark  woods  with  sparks  of 
fire.  The  grasshoppers  are  maturing  and  all  the  in- 
sects become  more  numerous.  In  August  the  cicada,  or, 
as  it  is  commonly  known,  the  locust,  begins  to  sing  in 
the  trees  with  a  dry,  vibrating  noise,  so  much  resembling 


590  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

that  made  by  a  rattlesnake  that  when  I  hear  one  on  the 
ground  I  know  that  it  is  a  snake,  and  I  hunt  for  a  stick. 
but  when  the  same  sound  is  in  the  trees  I  know  that 
if  is  an  insect  making  the  noise. 

One  day  a  cicada  flew  around  over  my  head  in  a  most 
bewildering  manner,  all  the  time  emitting  its  dry,  rat- 
tling noise,  and  it  was  some  time  before  I  discovered 
that  a  large  dragon  fly  had  seized  the  "  locust  "  and  was 
darting  back  and  forth  with  its  noisy  captive.  After 
the  cicadae  have  been  singing  for  some  time  they  are 
joined  by  other  arboreal  musicians,  and  on  cloudy  days 
or  the  late  afternoon  the  katydids  may  be  heard  stutter- 
ing among  the  branches  overhead. 

For  two  or  three  days  they  get  no  further  along 
with  their  conversation  than  "  stut-stut-stut  "  at  irregu- 
lar intervals.  As  a  rule,  the  katydids  begin  to  sing  just 
about  the  time  the  cicadae  quit,  and  on  moonlight  nights 
I  have  heard  them  keep  it  up  until  morning. 

Some  persons,  with  a  sad  lack  of  imagination,  have 
declared  that  the  katydids  do  not  really  voice  their  own 
names  or  engage  in  a  dispute  and  parliamentary  debate 
on  the  question  whether  katydid  or  katy  didn't;  but 
these  folk  with  equal  truth  can  say  the  American  quail 
cannot  articulate  the  words  "  Bob  White,"  and  that  the 
Phoebe  bird,  chewink,  and  chickadee  are  incapable  of 
pronouncing  their  own  names.  But  the  fact  remains 
that  the  noise  they  make  does  sound  like  the  words  at- 
tributed to  them.  To  translate  any  of  the  bird  or  in- 
sect noises  into  English  requires  some  imagination  on 
the  part  of  the  listener.  The  truth  is  that  no  one  can 
be  a  naturalist,  or,  for  that  matter,  no  one  could  be  a 


CURIOSITY  OF  BIRDS  AND  BEASTS         591 

poet,  artist,  scientist,  or  an  inventor,  without  a  vivid 
imagination  to  aid  him  in  his  work. 

What  the  katydid  really  does  say  sounds  more  like 
"  kack-kack!  "  and  u  kack-kack-kack !  "  with  the  accent 
on  the  final  word.  While  some  people  may  deny  that 
this  insect  pronounces  its  own  name,  they  cannot  rob  it  of 
sentiment.  Even  the  unimaginative  critic  must  grant 
that  the  noise  is  the  love  call  of  the  green  knight  of  the 
trees,  and  what  he  really  says  can  be  found  translated 
into  human  language  in  any  book  of  love  songs  or 
poetry,  written  by  the  human  katydids,  known  as  bards 
and  poets. 

As  the  season  further  advances  other  little  musicians 
join  the  orchestra.  But,  strange  to  say,  when  the  rasp- 
ing notes  of  a  katydid,  the  strident  scraping  of  the  grass- 
hoppers, and  the  shrill  harping  of  the  cricket  mingle, 
the  combined  sound  is  softened  and  mellowed  by  thou- 
sands of  near  and  distant  insects,  until  the  night  air 
pulsates  and  beats  in  regular  waves.  The  rhythmic  un- 
dulations of  sound  are  delicious  to  a  drowsy  person  and 
form  the  primeval  lullaby  which  soothed  our  prehistoric 
ancestors  to  sleep.  But  such  a  night,  accompanied  by 
such  music,  is  not  to  be  found  in  all  wild  places. 

All  these  things,  however,  are  signs  of  the  advance  of 
summer,  and  the  hum  of  insects  at  night  is  the  forerunner 
of  the  chorus  of  katydids. 

Every  boy  knows  that  when  the  katydids  begin  their 
loud  dispute  it  is  only  "  six  week  to  frost."  Scientists 
may  dispute  this,  but  they  cannot  dispute  the  fact  that 
vacation  is  almost  over  when  the  katydids  begin  to  fid- 
dle and  produce  the  rasping  sounds  from  which  they 


592 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


take  their  name.  There  will  soon  be  one  calling  down 
in  the  swail,  and  it  will  be  answered  by  another  green 
fiddler  in  the  white  oak  tree  between  my  window  and 
Big  Tink  Pond,  which  means  that  the  end  of  summer  is 
approaching,  and  with  it  this  book  must  come  to  an  end, 


APPENDIX 


THE   BIRDS   OF   WILD   LANDS. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  birds  which  have  been 
observed  and  positively  identified  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Wild  Lands  by  Mr.  Elmer  Gregor  of  Forest  Lake  Club  and 
the  Author. 

The  check  list  numbers,  orders,  latin  names,  &c.,  that  ap- 
pear upon  the  original  list  have  all  been  omitted  here  because 
this  is  not  a  technical  book. 


Great  Northern   Diver 

Horned    Grebe 

Red  Breasted  Merganser 

Mallards 

Black    Duck 

Pintail 

Green   Winged   Teal 

Blue  Winged  Teal 

Wood    Duck 

Redhead   Canvasback 

Scaup 

Golden  Eye 

Canada   Goose 

Great  Blue   Heron 

Little  Blue   Heron 

American   Bittern 

American  Coot 

American  Woodcock 

Spotted   Sandpjper 

Killdeer 

Bob  White 

Ruffed  Grouse 

Morning  Dove 

Kingbird 

Phoebe 

Marsh  Hawk 


Whip-poor-will 
Night  Hawk 
Chimnev  Swift 
Ruby  throated  Hummingbird 
Crested  Flycatcher 
Least  Flycatcher 
Wood  Pewee 
Blue  Jay 
American  Crow 
Bobolink 
Cowbird 
Barn   Swallow 
Tree  Swallow 
Bank  Swallow 
Cedar  Wax  Wing 
Red-eyed  Vireo 
Black  and   white   Warbler 
Parula  Warbler 
Yellow  Warbler 
Black  throated  Blue  Warbler 
Myrtle    Warbler 
Magnolia  Warbler 
Chestnutsided  Warbler 
Blackburnian   Warbler 
Palm  Warbler 
Oven-bird 
593 


594 


DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 


Sharp-shinned  Hawk 
Coopers   Hawk 
Red  Tailed  Hawk 
Bals  Eagle 

American  Sparrow  Hawk 
American  Osprey 
Screech   Owl 
Great  Horned  Owl 
Snowy  Owl 
Barred   Owl 
Yellow-billed  Cuckoo 
Belted  Kingfisher 
Hairy  Woodpecker 
Downy  Woodpecker 
Pileated  Woodpecker 
Red  Headed  Woodpecker 
Yellow-billed  Sapsucker 
Flicker 


Maryland  yellow-throat 

American  -Redstart 

Catbird 

Brown  Thrasher 

House  Wren 

Winter  Wren 

Brown  Creeper 

White  breasted  Nuthatch 

Chickadee 

Golden-crowned  Kinglet 

Water  thrush 

Wood  Thrush 

Veery  Thrush 

Hermit  Thrush 

American  Robin 

Bluebird 

Herring  Gull 

Common  Tern 


gftertoorb 

The  growing  frequency  of  requests  from  both 
old  and  young  readers  asking  for  some  standard, 
rules  or  law  to  govern  one's  conduct  on  the  game 
field,  combined  with  numerous  demands  for  a  de- 
tailed list  of  what  may  be  considered  as  honorable 
achievement  in  the  outdoor  world,  causes  the  author 
to  believe  that  the  following  code  of  ethics  by  Dr. 
William  T.  Hornaday  and  a  list  of  honorable 
achievement  compiled  by  Mr.  Ernest  Thompson 
Seton,  and  revised  and  adopted  by  the  Board  of 
Governors  of  the  Camp-Fire  Club  of  America, 
will  be  welcomed  by  all  people  who  love  life  in 
the  open.  The  Camp-Fire  Club  has  not  only 
adopted  Dr.  Hornaday's  code  of  ethics,  but  it  has 
also  set  a  good  example  in  not  serving  game  at 
any  of  its  banquets  unless  it  happens  to  have  been 
shot  by  some  one  of  the  members  and  sent  in  for 
that  occasion.  The  list  of  honorable  achievements 
is  a  result  of  years  of  work  and  consultation  with 
the  highest  authorities  on  all  the  particular  out- 
door pursuits,  and  has  been  subjected  to  careful 
revision  until  it  is  safe  to  say  that  it  now  represents 
the  consensus  of  opinion  of  the  most  prominent 
authorities  and  sportsmen  in  the  world,  and  is 
here  published,  by  permission,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  readers  of  this  book,  with  the  belief  that  it 
will  be  welcomed  by  both  the  boys  and  their  sport- 
loving  parents. 

595 


&  Sportsman's   platform 

FIFTEEN   CARDINAL  PRINCIPLES  AFFECTING  WILD 
GAME  AND   ITS   PURSUIT 

Proposed  by  William  T.  Hornaday 

AND  ADOPTED  BY 

THE  CAMP-FIRE  CLUB  OF  AMERICA 

AS  ITS   CODE   OF  ETHICS 

December  10,    1908 

1.  The  wild  animal  life  of  to-day  is  not  ours,  to  do 
with  as  we  please.     The  original  stock  is  given  to  us  in 
trust,  for  the  benefit  both  of  the  present  and  the  future. 
We  must  render  an  accounting  of  this  trust  to  those  who 
come  after  us. 

2.  Judging  from  the  rate  at  which  the  wild  creatures 
of  North  America  are  now  being  destroyed,  fifty  years 
hence  there  will  be  no   large   game  left  in  the  United 
States  nor  in  Canada,  outside  of  rigidly  protected  game 
preserves.     It  is  therefore  the  duty  of  every  good  citizen 
to  promote  the  protection  of  forests  and  wild  life  and  the 
creation  of  game  preserves,  while  a  supply  of  game  re- 
mains.     Every   man   who    finds    pleasure    in    hunting   or 
fishing  should  be  willing   to  spend  both  time  and  money 
in   active  work  for  the   protection   of   forests,   fish,   and 
game. 

3.  The  sale  of  game  is  incompatible  with   the  per- 
petual preservation  of  a  proper  stock  of  game;  therefore 
it  should  be  prohibited  by  laws  and  by  public  sentiment. 

596 


CAMP-FIRE  CLUB  OF  AMERICA  597 

4.  In     the    settled    and    civilized    regions    of    North 
America  there  is  no  real  necessity  for  the  consumption  of 
wild  game  as  human  food ;  nor  is  there  any  good  excuse 
for  the  sale  of  game  for  food  purposes.     The  maintenance 
of   hired    laborers    on    wild    game    should    be   prohibited 
everywhere,  under  severe  penalties. 

5.  An  Indian  has  no  more  right  to  kill  wild   game, 
or  to  subsist  upon  it  all  the  year  round,  than  any  white 
man  in  the  same  locality.    The  Indian  has  no  inherent  or 
God-given   ownership   of   the   game   of    North   America, 
any  more  than  of  its  mineral  resources;  and  he  should  be 
governed  by  the  same  game  laws  as  white  men. 

6.  No    man    can    be    a    good    citizen    and    also    be   a 
slaughterer  of  game  or  fishes  beyond  the  narrow  limits 
compatible   with   high-class  sportsmanship. 

7.  A  game-butcher  or  a  market-hunter   is   an   unde- 
sirable citizen,   and  should  be  treated  as  such. 

8.  The    highest    purpose    which    the    killing   of    wild 
game  and  game  fishes  can  hereafter  be  made  to  serve  is 
in   furnishing  objects   to   overworked   men   for   tramping 
and  .camping  trips  in  the  wilds;  and  the  value  of  wild 
game  as  human  food  should  no  longer  be  regarded  as  an 
important  factor  in  \'.j  pursuit. 

9.  If  rightly  conserved,  wild  game  constitutes  a  valu- 
able asset  to  any  country  which  possesses  it;  and  it  is  good 
statesmanship  to  protect  it. 

10.  An    ideal   hunting   trip   consists   of   a   good   com- 
rade, fine  country,  and  a  very  few  trophies  per  hunter. 

11.  In  an  ideal  hunting  trip,  the  death  of  the  game  is 
only  an  incident;  and  by  no  means  is  it  really  necessary 
to  a  successful  outing. 

12.  The  best  hunter  is  the  man  who  finds  the  most 
game,  kills  the  least,  and  leaves  behind  him  no  wounded 
animals. 


598  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

13.  The  killing  of  an   animal   means  the  end  of  its 
most  interesting  period.     When  the  country  is  fine,  pur- 
suit is  more  interesting  than  possession. 

14.  The  killing  of  a  female  hoofed  animal,  save  for 
special  preservation,  is  to  be  regarded  as  incompatible  with 
the  highest  sportsmanship;  and  it  should  everywhere  be 
prohibited  by  stringent  laws. 

15.  A  particularly  fine   photograph   of  a  large  wild 
animal  in  its  haunts  is  entitled  to  more  credit  than  the 
dead  trophy  of  a  similar  animal.       An  animal  that  has 
been    photographed    never   should    be    killed,    unless    pre- 
viously wounded  in  the  chase. 


CAMP-FIRE  CLUB  OF  AMERICA 


fetandarb  of  l?onors 

Whereas,  Much  mischief  has  arisen  through  wrong 
standards  of  honorable  achievement  in  the  pursuits  that 
are  naturally  associated  with  outdoor  life,  the  Camp-Fire 
Club  of  America  has  decided: 

First,  To  define  the  exploits  belonging  to  its  world, 
which  are  to  be  considered  "  honorable." 

Second,  To  confer  an  appropriate  badge  on  those  who, 
having  duly  performed  any  of  these,  make  the  proper  ap- 
plication, with  evidence  satisfactory  to  the  Board  of  Gov- 
ernors. 

Third,  This  holds  whether  the  applicant  be  a  Mem- 
ber of  the  Club  or  not,  but  non-members  will  be  charged 
a  fee  for  registration. 

GENERAL  RULES 

Each  Honor  is  recognized  in  two  degrees,  Honor  and 
High  Honor.  This  list  is  intended  for  men ;  that  is, 
males  over  18  years  of  age. 

If  application  is  made  by  a  lad,  that  is,  a  male  under 
1 8,  and  his  claim  proved  for  Honor,  it  shall  count  him  a 
High  Honor,  because  of  his  age. 

599 


600  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

For  this  purpose  all  women  without  regard  to  age  are 
considered  in  the  lad  class;  that  is  under  18;  also,  men 
over  70  return  to  the  lad  class. 

Honors  once  won  cannot  be  cancelled  for  subsequent 
failure  on  the  part  of  the  winner. 

The  applicant  for  Honors  cannot  hold  Honor  and 
High  Honor  in  the  same  department.  For  example,  a 
member  with  a  low  Honor  for  500  miles  canoe-travel 
would  surrender  this  on  winning  the  High  Honor  for 
1,000  miles.  But,  an  applicant  who  has  a  low  Honor  for 
climbing  Pike's  Peak  would  not  surrender  it  when  al- 
lowed a  High  Honor  for  climbing  Grand  Teton,  but 
would  but  add  the  latter  to  his  string,  because  each 
mountain  is  a  department  of  Honor  by  itself. 

The  applicant  must  fill  out  and  forward  two  copies  of 
each  Honor  Claim.  These  forms  may  be  had  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Club  for  2  cents  each,  or  10  cents  a 
dozen.  If  "  allowed,"  one  is  returned  to  the  claimant, 
and  the  other  goes  on  file. 

The  Board  of  Governors  is  the  sole  arbiter  and  uses 
its  judgment  in  the  matter  of  witnesses. 

Successful  claimants  must  forward  registration  fee  of 
50  cents  for  each  Honor  allowed,  unless  they  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Club,  in  which  case  no  fee  is  required. 

The  badge  is  of  gold,  plain  for  Honor;  with  an  enam- 
elled center  for  High  Honor,  and  costs  $1.50.  The 
center  is  red,  green,  or  white,  according  to  the  class. 

Red,  standing  for  red  blood  or  heroism,  is  symbol  of 
those  outdoor  exploits  which  call  for  courage,  nerve,  and 
strength. 

Green,  for  achievements  calling  for  skill  rather  than 
courage. 

White,  for  outdoor  scholarship,  i.  e.,  nature  study. 


CAMP-FIRE  CLUB  OF  AMERICA  601 

By  this  plan  we  hope:  First:  To  greatly  foster  an  in- 
terest in  sane  pursuits  connected  with  Camp  Life. 

Second:  Put  an  end  to  many  evils  that  have  arisen 
through  false  ideas  of  creditable  achievement. 


Clastf  I.    &eb 

CAMPING 

Canoe-camper*  To  have  made  a  continuous  canoe- 
trip  of  500  miles,  sleeping  out  every  night,  honor;  1,000 
miles,  high  honor. 

Saddle-camper.  To  have  made  a  continuous  saddle- 
trip  of  500  miles,  sleeping  out  every  night,  honor;  1,000 
miles,  high  honor. 

Camper*  An  honor,  for  passing  30  successive  nights 
out-of-doors,  never  once  sleeping  under  a  roof,  but  in 
tent,  tepee,  or  bivouac,  every  night.  A  high  honor,  for  60 
nights  of  the  same. 

Lone  Tramper*  An  honor,  for  travelling  alone,  on 
foot,  100  miles,  carrying  one's  outfit,  sleeping  out  every 
night;  a  high  honor,  for  200  miles. 

Gang  Tramper*  An  honor,  for  travelling  150  miles 
on  foot  with  a  party,  carrying  one's  own  outfit,  sleeping 
out  every  night;  a  high  honor  for  250  miles. 

Expert  Canoeman*  To  paddle  (single)  a  canoe  i 
mile  on  dead  water  in  10  minutes;  spill  the  canoe  in 
deep  water,  get  in  again  and  recover  control  without  help, 
honor. 

To  make  the  mile  in  9  minutes;  spill  and  recover  3 
times  in  succession,  and  run  a  rapid  that  falls  6  feet  in 
2OO  yards,  high  honor. 


602  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Swimmer*  To  have  swum  250  yards  (no  time  limit), 
honor;  to  have  swum  5  miles  (no  time  limit),  high  honor. 

TARGET-SHOOTING 

Revolver-shot:  Target  4x4  feet.  Bull's  eye  8  inches 
(counts  4  points).  Inner  ring  2  feet  (3  points).  Outer, 
the  rest  of  the  target  (2  points).  Distance,  30  yards. 

96  shots  divided  in  any  number  up  to  six  days,  one 
hand,  standing;  250  points  count  honor;  300,  high  honor. 

Half  with  left  hand  only;  half  with  right  hand  only; 
230  points,  honor;  260,  high  honor. 

Rifleman:  To  be  an  expert  according  to  militia 
standards,  honor;  to  be  a  distinguished  expert  rifleman, 
a  high  honor. 

BIG-GAME  HUNTING 

Inasmuch  as  Hunting  Big-Game  must  be  recognized  in 
our  list  of  national  outdoor  sports,  it  should  be  elevated  to 
a  higher  plane  by  the  adoption  of  these  rules,  because  they 
tend  to  give  the  utmost  prominence  to  the  many  admirable 
features  of  the  chase,  and  at  the  same  time  reduce  the 
total  sum  of  destruction. 

To  have  gone  alone  into  the  haunts  of  big  game,  that  is 
to  say,  without  professional  guide,  and  by  fair  hunting, 
unaided  by  traps  or  poison,  or  dogs  (except  where  marked 
"d"),  have  killed  and  saved  for  good  purposes,  in  ab- 
solute accordance  with  the  game  laws,  any  of  the  follow- 
ing kinds  of  game  (or  others  of  a  corresponding  char- 
acter), counts  Honors  as  below: 

Each  Species  counts  one  Honor ;  that  is,  one  Tiger 
would  count  i  Honor,  10  Tigers  would  not  count  any- 
more; when  he  gets  his  Tiger,  his  Moose,  etc.,  the 


CAMP-FIRE  CLUB  OF  AMERICA  603 

sportsman   is  supposed   to  stop  so   far  as  that  species  is 
concerned. 

The  presence  of  a  professional  hunter  reduces  a  High 
Honor  to  an  Honor,  and  if  he  took  any  part  in  the 
actual  killing  it  does  not  count  at  all.  A  native  gun- 
bearer  is  not  necessarily  a  professional  guide. 

Honor 

Black-bear  (d) 

Puma  (d) 

Gray-wolf  (d) 

Waterbuck 

Wild  Boar,  otherwise  than  with  spear  (d) 

Caribou 

Deer 

Moose,  Wapiti,  etc. 

Tiger  (from  elephant-back  or  machan) 

1 4- foot  Crocodile  or  Alligator 

High  Honor 

Jaguar 

Tiger  (without  help  of  elephants) 

Elephant 

Lion 

Leopard 

Puma 

Rhinoceros 

Indian  Bison 

African  Buffalo 

Gorilla 

Okapi 

Hippopotamus 

Moose  (by  stalking) 


604  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Mountain  Goat  »o* 

Mountain  Sheep,  adult  ram 

Chamois 

Himalayan  Tahr,  adult  male 

Gray-wolf 

Grizzly-bear 

Spectacled  Bear 

Wild  Boar,  with  spear,  etc. 

Sword-fish,  15  feet  long,  from  small  boat 

MOUNTAIN  CLIMBING  (All  Afoot) 

By  Sir  Martin  Conway,  ex-President  of  the  Alpine  Club 

The  exploits  in  this  class  are  repeaters. 
The  first  one  to  climb  a  standard  peak  gets  double  hon- 
ors; one  for  climb,  one  for  first  climb. 

Honor 

In  Europe:  Mont  Blanc,  Monte  Rosa,  Monte  Viso, 
Ecrins,  Grand  Paradis,  Jungfrau,  Finsteraarhorn,  Wet- 
terhorn,  Bernina,  Ortler,  Gross  Glockner,  Matterhorn 
from  Zermatt. 

In  North  America:  St.  Helen's,  Adams,  Shasta, 
Pike's  Peak,  Hood,  Rainier,  Mt.  Stephen,  Popocatepetl, 
Orizaba. 

In  Asia:     Fujiyama,  Tabor. 

High  Honor 

In  Europe;  Meije  Aig.  du  Grepon,  Aig  du  Geant, 
Aig.  du  Dru,  Matterhorn  (by  Italian  or  Stock je  Ridges), 
Dent  Blanche,  Mischabelhorner  from  Seas,  Schreckhorn, 
Monte  di  Scerscen,  Funffinger  Sp.,  Kleine  Zinne. 


CAMP-FIRE  CLUB  OF  AMERICA  605 

In  IV  rth  America:  Mt.  Sir  Donald,  Mt.  Logan, 
Mt.  Assiniboine,  Mt.  Fairweather,  Mt.  St.  Elias,  Grand 
Teton,  Mt.  McKinley;  any  peak  in  Alaska  over  13,000 
feet. 

In  South  America:  Chimborazo,  Cotopaxi,  Illimani, 
Aconcagua. 

In  Asia:     Any  peak  over  19,000  high. 

In  Africa:     Any  peak  over  15,000  feet  high. 


2.    (green 

CAMPERCRAFT  AND   SCOUTING 

Match-fire*  Light  15  camp-fires  in  succession  with  15 
matches,  all  at  different  places,  all  with  stuff  found  in  the 
woods  by  himself,  one  at  least  to  be  on  a  wet  day,  for 
honor;  if  all  15  are  done  on  wet  days,  or  if  he  does  30, 
of  which  two  are  on  wet  days,  it  counts  high  honor. 

Rubbing -stick  Fire*  Light  a  fire  with  fire-drill  or 
rubbing  sticks,  with  material  of  one's  own  gathering, 
counts  an  honor;  to  do  it  in  one  minute  counts  a  high 
honor. 

Diamond  Hitch*  Pack  a  horse  with  not  less  than  100 
pounds  of  stuff  with  diamond  hitch,  to  hold  during  8 
hours  of  travel,  honor;  ten  days  in  succession,  a  high 
honor. 

Birch  Canoe*  To  have  made  a  birch  canoe  that  has 
travelled,  with  at  least  one  man  aboard,  100  miles  or 
more  in  safety,  high  honor. 


606  DAN  BEARD'S  ANIMAL  BOOK 

Trailing*  Know  and  clearly  discriminate  the  tracks 
of  25  of  our  common  wild  quadrupeds,  also  trail  one  for 
a  mile  and  secure  it,  without  aid  of  soow,  honor.  Sim- 
ilarly discriminate  50  tracks,  and  follow  3  tracks  a  mile 
as  before,  but  for  3  different  animals,  high  honor. 

Fishing*  To  take  on  a  rod,  without  assistance  in 
hooking,  playing,  or  landing,  a  trout,  black  bass, 
pike,  muscallonge,  grayling,  salmon,  bluefish,  weakfish, 
striped  bass,  kingfish,  sheepshead,  or  other  game  fish, 
whose  weight  in  pounds  equals  or  exceeds  that  of  the 
rod  in  ounces,  honor.  To  take  under  the  same  condi- 
tions a  game  fish  that  is  double  in  pounds  the  ounces  of 
the  rod,  high  honor. 

Fly-Casting*  To  cast  a  fly  with  a  rod  of  5  oz.  or  less 
and  not  over  10  feet  long;  80  feet,  honor;  95  feet,  high 
honor. 


Class*  3*    Wfnte 

WOOD-LORE 

Beasts*  Know  and  name  correctly  25  native  wild 
quadrupeds,  for  honor;  know  and  name  correctly  50,  and 
tell  something  about  each,  for  high  honor. 

Birds*  Know  and  name  correctly  100  of  our  native 
birds,  the  female  and  young  to  count  separately  when  they 
are  wholly  different  from  the  male.  This  counts  honor; 
200  birds,  for  high  honor. 

Forest  Trees*  Know  and  name  correctly  according  to 
any  standard  authorities  25  forest  trees,  describing  their 
properties  and  value  of  the  wood,  honor;  50  trees  for 
high  honor.  (English  names  allowed). 


CAMP-FIRE  CLUB  OF  AMERICA  607 

Star -gazing*  Know  and  name  20  star  groups  for 
honor;  know  30  star  groups,  and  tell  the  names  and 
something  about  at  least  one  star  in  each,  for  high  honor. 


PHOTOGRAPHY 

Bird*  Make  a  good  recognizable  photograph  of  any 
wild  bird  larger  than  a  robin  while  on  its  nest,  the  bird 
itself  to  be  at  least  3  inches  long  on  the  original  plate, 
for  honor;  the  same  for  3  different  species,  high  honor. 

Beast*  Make  a  good  recognizable  photograph  of  a 
wild  animal  in  the  air,  for  honor  or  high  honor,  accord- 
ing to  merit. 

Fish*     Ditto  for  a  fish. 

Stalking*  Get  good  photographs  of  3  different  large 
wild  animals  in  native  surroundings,  and  not  looking  at 
you  ;  honor  or  high  honor,  according  to  merit. 


these  are  tests  of  Woodcraft  menagerie  animals  do 
not  count.) 

All  applications  must  be  mailed  to  the  Secretary,  ARTHUR  F.  RICE, 
Flatiron  Building,  New  York  City,  from  whom  additional  forms  may  be 
secured  at  the  rate  of  10  cents  per  dozen. 


THE   END 


M 
SQ 

Di 


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